I have previously discussed the work that my wife Carol performs as a volunteer for the Washington, DC, Catholic Charities Refugee Center, in a
recent post. In the course of working on a clothing drive sponsored by the Center, in November 2009, she met two Iraqi refugees, Ali and Layla, a married couple who participated in the clothing drive with her. Shortly afterwards, I met Ali and Layla when we had them to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. On that occasion I heard the story of their plight as refugees.
More recently Ali and Layla have become desperate, as they believe that the lives of their 23 year old son and 27 year old daughter, who continue to live in Iraq, are now in imminent danger. They have therefore desperately sought to obtain visas for them to join them in the United States, so far to no avail. Unable to offer them any additional advice, Carol suggested to Ali that I publicize their situation on DU, which he agreed to. I discussed this with Ali further last night by telephone. Also, Catholic Charities of Washington, DC, is seeking legal advice on this issue.
Ali and Layla’s storyAli and Layla are engineers who were working in that capacity in Baghdad at the time of the U.S. invasion in 2003. In the course of that invasion the Baghdad airport was badly damaged. Consequently, Ali and Layla were employed by the U.S. Army as contractors to repair it, with Layla leading the effort. The
airport was reopened in July 2003. Subsequently, Ali and Layla continued to be employed by the U.S. Army as engineers and interpreters. They lived in a compound just outside of the airport.
Because of their collaboration with Coalition forces, Ali and Layla were attacked by what they believe were al Qaeda forces while driving in their car in April 2004. They were shot several times and left for dead. But they survived to be treated in a U.S. military hospital. When the attackers realized that Ali and Layla had survived their attack they retaliated by killing Layla’s brother, brother-in-law, and nephew.
Following their recovery, Ali and Layla continued working for Coalition forces, and in addition Ali aided U.S. military combat efforts. Eventually, increasing threats to their lives led Ali and Layla to apply for asylum in the United States, which was granted in the form of a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV). The special status was granted because of their work for the U.S. government. Consequently, they came to the United States in September 2009. They had attempted to obtain visas for their son and daughter, but they were unable to do so, so they came here by themselves.
In early January, 2010, Ali and Layla moved to Dallas, Texas, in an attempt to obtain work. Like so many other refugee families (and other Americans), as
documented by the International Rescue Committee, they face:
a bleak situation for thousands of Iraqi refugees arriving in the United States during the recession and the outdated US Refugee Admissions Program that's no longer meeting their most basic needs.
Iraq’s refugee crisisAn article in
The Nation in April 2007 documented approximately four million Iraqi refugees created by the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, approximately half of the four million displaced internally and the other half displaced to other countries. Undoubtedly the number of refugees has substantially increased since that time. And the good majority find themselves in a desperate situation. Yet, as of January 2007 only 466 Iraqis had been given refugee status to immigrate to the United States.
This puny effort to provide sanctuary for the desperate people who were presumably the focus of our efforts to bring the fruits of democracy to, which in large part provided the rationalization for our invasion and occupation, has long been the subject of concern on the part of Congressional Democrats. Therefore this issue has been the subject of Congressional hearings since the Democrats took over control of Congress in January 2007. As
reported by the
Washington Post:
Democratic lawmakers and advocates for refugees called for increased U.S. funding and other initiatives to help the fleeing Iraqis, and in particular those who have risked their lives working with American forces.
"We should not repeat the tragic and immoral mistake from the Vietnam era and leave friends without a refuge and subject to violent reprisals," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's chairman. The Bush administration has $20 million in its fiscal 2007 budget for Iraqi refugee assistance; the United States is spending $8 billion a month on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Subsequently, the settlement of Iraqi refugees in the United States has picked up quite a bit. By mid-2009 an
additional twenty thousand had been resettled, including
more than thirteen thousand in 2009 alone.
Imminent risk to Ali and Layla’s childrenJust recently, events in Baghdad led Ali and Layla to believe that their children were in imminent danger of their lives. Their son was until recently an engineering student at Baghdad College. He was recently kicked out of the school and all his educational credentials withheld from him. Ali and his son feel certain that this was all a result of the recent discovery by school officials that he is Ali’s and Layla’s son. All three of them see that event as a prelude to an attempt to kill him by school officials and their allies. Ali and Layla’s daughter, who recently graduated with an engineering degree, cannot work for fear of getting killed if she leaves the compound, which is subject to frequent mortar attacks. Ali’s and Layla’s belief that their children are at imminent risk of death is based on conversations with their children and knowledge of the way things work in today’s Iraq.
Ali sent me e-mails documenting his recent attempts to obtain a visa for his children. The e-mails reflect that the U.S. Army, which had employed Ali and Layla, has been working on their behalf to obtain the visa from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The embassy says that they cannot give a visa to their children on the basis of family member “follow-to-join” status because they are over the age of 21. However, as the U.S. Army Captain working on their case has pointed out to the embassy, the pertinent regulations state that
unmarried children (the children are unmarried) of
any age should be given high preference for joining their parents in the United States. Furthermore, it seems that risk to their lives should provide additional rationale for giving the children visa status.
Ali recently suffered his second heart attack since coming to the United States, and this was followed by open heart surgery. During my phone conversation with him last night he repeatedly stressed to me that he wants to go back to Iraq to be with and try to protect their children, but he is unable to do so because of his current physical state.
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