Archive for the ‘SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 1, 2012
Below is a comment that a regular reader of this blog submitted for today’s State Department public hearing on the size and scope of the refugee program for fiscal year 2013:
I am a private citizen refugee advocate who has been assisting refugees with resettlement issues for the past three years. My comments are based on my experience helping refugees after they arrive in the United States with two exceptions: (1) It shouldn’t be as hard as it appears to be logistically for refugees to go through the process to enter the U.S. . By that I mean, not that each individual shouldn’t be scrutinized in detail, but that the process should entail the least travel through dangerous areas in their home countries, the fewest return trips to an application center, the most feedback about application status, the fewest repeat requests for information, and the speediest answer about whether refugee status will be granted. (2) The travel loan program should be converted to a travel grant program. There seems to be some sort of philosophy that it is citizen-building to saddle a refugee with debt as his/her first exposure to life in the United States. I disagree…It is regularly and repeatedly emphasized to them that failure to repay the travel loan can jeopardize their ability to get U.S. citizenship because of an adverse credit report – yet they are all too often given no information about how to seek forgiveness of a loan many of them will likely never be able to repay in time because of their personal situations. Furthermore, I think having the resettlement agencies act as collection agents for these loans is a significant conflict of interest…
My remaining comments concern my experience during the course of my activities as a refugee advocate…Resettlement agency failures to meet contracted responsibilities are not isolated incidences but are regular, daily occurrences on a widespread basis. I believe these failures occur not because of lack of resources, although that is surely true in some cases, but primarily because of a lack of leadership. Leadership in the local affiliates, leadership in the national offices of resettlement agencies, and leadership in the Domestic Resettlement Section. The failure of leadership that talks to each other more than to refugees. Leadership that cares more about what Washington thinks than what refugees think…I have encountered exactly two offices serving refugees in which a human actually answered the telephone; my experience instead has been full of voice mail not returned and even voice mail boxes completely full – this by agencies who are serving people who may not even have used a telephone before coming to the U.S. Leadership, such as that at World Relief, who cares more about its employees’ religious qualifications than their actual competence. Leadership that does not put enough of its own cash into a resettlement program but instead phonies up the value of its match (the value of which, I believe, is rarely, if ever, audited…English language instruction, crucial, of course, for new arrivals, is regularly inadequate and irrelevant to what a new arrival needs. Referrals for mental health services are regularly inadequate or nonexistent. Housing placements are regularly in dangerous neighborhoods and/or too expensive for the refugee to sustain after financial support stops. Too often refugees are completely abandoned after the initial six months placement…Too often the minimum contractually-required services are not adequately provided or not provided at all. Too often refugees become homeless…There are few people in responsible positions who have the personal and professional competence to install effective programs, who care whether their subcontractors perform well, who care whether their employees serve their clients well, who blame themselves and not their clients when things are not working well…
Particularly disappointing is the leadership of the Domestic Resettlement Section who appears to be more apologist for and defender of resettlement agencies and their local affiliates no matter what rather than the overseers and refugee advocates they should be. Complaints go unanswered; or, if answered, are answered with the condescension of a parent who knows best and must be trusted to do the right thing. Investigation may be promised but one never knows whether it happens and what the result is because that would be a violation of confidentiality. All I know is that what I complained about did not appear to change…Program audits are too infrequent and do not appear to include audits of financial responsibility…Particularly disappointing is that the Domestic Resettlement Section seems to think all is well and nothing needs to change – at least nothing they care to share with the public…
Here is a link to a documentary about refugees in Buffalo, N.Y. I think you’ll find their indomitable spirits despite all that has happened to them is most inspiring. I also recommend the press kit that is posted on the web site for an insight as to how resettlement agencies in Buffalo inspired the making of this film. Read full letter here
Posted in capacity, dangerous neighborhoods, democracy, language interpretation/translation, lack of, Office of Admissions, openess and transparency in government, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, State Department, Travel Loan Program, volunteers, World Relief | Tagged: Advocate, comment, Domestic Resettlement Section, FY2013, public hearing, refugees, resettlement, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), State Department, US Department of State | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on April 22, 2012
Is the reason that we’re not meeting our moral obligation to resettle Iraqis who risked their lives to help us that our security bureaucracy has so many overlapping layers and redundancies that it’s almost impossible to navigate the system? In the post-9/11 era, under the Department of Homeland Security, one government agency doesn’t necessarily recognize another’s security checks. One refugee security check will often expire before the next is completed. Trudy Rubin, an Opinion Columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, gives her take on what is going on:
…Consider this: In 2008, Congress mandated 25,000 special immigrant visas (known as SIVs) for Iraqis who helped us over a period of five years; fewer than 4,500 have been issued. According to State Department figures, 719 were granted in fiscal 2011 and 569 during the first six months of fiscal 2012…
…Many Iraqis who helped Americans have chosen to apply for U.S. visas through another…refugee program. As of last July, there were 39,000 Iraqis on that waiting list. In the first six months of fiscal 2012, only 2,500 were admitted.
And most applicants have been waiting one to three years.
So what’s gone wrong? Why can’t we meet our moral obligation to Iraqis who risked their lives to help us?
My answer: We have a security bureaucracy that’s gone bonkers. In the post-9/11 era, under the Department of Homeland Security, we’ve set up so many overlapping layers and redundancies that it’s almost impossible to navigate the system. “One agency doesn’t necessarily recognize another’s security checks,” says Carey. “Often one check will expire before the next is completed.”
Take the case of A.M., who worked for the U.S. Army from 2009-11. He’s been waiting more than a year for his security clearance. Because of the wait, his U.S. Embassy-required medical exam “expired” and he had to take it again, paying another $400. Meanwhile, he is living in hiding, under death threat, afraid even to visit his wife and year-old daughter…
Or take A.L., who has been waiting for more than three years, took his medical exam three times, and fingerprints twice. The embassy gave him a date of a year ago, on which he was supposed to travel, but on that day he was told more security checks were needed. He had sold his business and his car, and is running out of money.
“We are threatened with death every moment,” he wrote me. “Is this what we deserve because we worked with U.S. forces. Please. Please. Help us.”
That will require the White House to tame the Kafkaesque Homeland Security bureaucracy, something that still hasn’t happened and probably needs presidential intervention. In the meantime, thousands of Iraqis suffer in limbo and America’s credibility takes a further beating.
“If we don’t [move on this], it will have a chilling effect on the willingness of people around the world to work with our missions,” Blinken admitted… Read more here
Posted in Dept of Homeland Security, Iraqi, IRC, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: Department of Homeland Security, Iraq, post-9/11 era, refugees, resettlement, security checks, security clearance, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | 2 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 23, 2012
It turns out that the year-long near stoppage in security clearances for Special Immigrant Visa applicants (now beginning to wane) and Iraqi refugees was due in part to a software snafu at the US Department of Homeland Security. The other part of the problem that we knew about was the huge backlog of security clearance reviews caused when new requirements mandated older security clearances being redone, including those for the 58,000 Iraqi refugees already in the US. A newspaper column in the Greensboro News-Record by the founding director of the Center for New North Carolinians mentions the software issue:
“Freedom.” “Security.” “Education.”
The first three volunteers wrote on the board. Our interpreter explained that they were listing the advantages of living in America. The list grew.
Then they listed the disadvantages. “Separated from family members,” “loss of culture,” “learning the language,” “loss of job skills certifications.” Then these Iraqi refugees who fled to Jordan discussed their answers.
The lesson was taught by a teacher working for the International Organization for Migration. IOM contracts with the U.S. State Department to provide cultural orientation for Iraqi refugees accepted for resettlement in America. The objective was to develop realistic expectations about America and develop analytical and networking skills in decision-making. The class was conducted in Arabic because the U.S. no longer pays for English language training.
I was leading a dozen U.S. refugee professionals and researchers from half a dozen states for the Association of Refugee Service Professionals. We were studying refugee issues. My daughter, who works with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, had arranged meetings for us. The refugees were stuck. Though approved for resettlement, they can’t get security clearances because new software designed for the Department of Homeland Security has problems… Read more here
Posted in Dept of Homeland Security, Greensboro, IOM, Iraqi, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: Center for New North Carolinians, Department of Homeland Security, International Organization for Migration, IOM, Iraqi, refugees, resettlement, security clearance, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 17, 2012
The near stoppage in the federal government’s issuing of Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqis last year seems to finally be ending. At least 715 special immigrant visas have been issued since October, which is more than all the SIVs issued in the last fiscal year. Resettlement of the broader Iraqi refugee community, however, is still at a near standstill. An article at USA Today explains:
…The Obama administration says it has made tweaks in how it is vetting Iraqis applying to a U.S. government resettlement program, leading to more former military interpreters and U.S. embassy workers being resettled in the USA in the first half of fiscal year 2012 than all of last year.
At least 715 special immigrant visas have been issued since October, surpassing the 706 visas that were issued for all of FY 2011, according to State Department data provided to USA TODAY. The special immigrant visa [SIV] is available to Iraqis that had worked for the U.S. government during the war, and had come under serious threat because they assisted America…
…White House and agency officials won’t talk about the additional security measures they’ve put in place or what changes they’ve recently made to speed up the vetting in recent months…
…Top administration officials—including White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough—have dedicated themselves to fixing the dramatic slowdown in resettlement, Blinken said.
“We owe these people,” Blinken said. “If we don’t deal with this problem, it will have a chilling effect on the willingness of people around the world to work with us, to cooperate with our missions.”
While resettlement of Iraqis eligible for the SIV program has picked up over the last six months, the State Department is still far behind the pace it set in 2009 and 2010, when 2,843 and 2,042 SIVs were issued in the respective years.
Resettlement of the broader Iraqi refugee community—which includes many former helpers to the U.S. military and diplomats–has grinded to a near halt. Only 1,861 refugees have been resettled over the last five months compared to 9,388 in FY 2011 and 18,000 in FY 2010, according to the State Department… Read more here
Posted in Iraqi, Obama administration, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, State Department | Tagged: interpreters, Iraqi, refugees, resettlement, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 7, 2012
Trudy Rubin writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer speculates about the failure of the US government to issue the visas it promised to Iraqis who risked their lives to help us. She thinks that the Obama administration – and the Republicans – have decided not to bring more Iraqis into this country in an election year. The supposed reason for the near halt in security clearances is the two Iraqi refugees in Kentucky accused of having terrorist connections. Yet, these two never worked for Americans and those who did, and who are now stuck, went through many security checks before getting their jobs.
Last week, I spoke on the PBS “NewsHour” about Iraqis who worked for our civilians and military before we left the country – and who now face death threats because we betrayed them…
…How can we get the U.S. government to issue the visas it promised to Iraqis who risked their lives to help us?
I’m ashamed to admit that the U.S. government has abandoned these people. No one seems eager to bring more Iraqis into this country in an election year.
President Obama has failed to keep his 2007 campaign pledge to rescue these Iraqis. A group of concerned senators, mostly Democrats, including Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey, has made inquiries, but gotten no answers from Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta or Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Nor has a peep been heard on behalf of the [Iraqi interpreters] from Republican senators who backed our war in Iraq.
State Department officials say they’re working hard to expedite the visa process. Yet the number of visas for Iraqis who helped us slowed to a trickle just when they were most urgently needed, as U.S. troops quit Iraq…
Official figures show that 39,000 Iraqis (including family members) are in the pipeline in the Direct Access program for Iraqis who worked with us. Only 153 of these visas were issued in December. There are about 15,000 (not including family) in the pipeline for the Special Immigrant Visa program. Only 50 SIVs were issued last month.
The supposed reason for the freeze is new security regulations imposed after two Iraqi refugees in Kentucky were accused of having terrorist connections. But these bad apples never worked for Americans. Those who did went through numerous security checks before getting their jobs… Read more here
Posted in Bowling Green, Dept of Homeland Security, Iraqi, Kentucky, Obama administration, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, State Department | Tagged: 2012 election, Bob Casey, Iraqis, Obama, refugees, Republicans, resettlement, security, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | 8 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on January 2, 2012
The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project has ideas for clearing the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) backlog. In addition to the Guam option the group suggests that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) develop a formal expedite procedure for applicants facing immediate danger, and that the DHS use more resources to clear the security check backlog. (How about shifting some of the billions of DHS dollars wasted on the states with little accountability over how lawmakers spent the money, rather than dumping more public resources down the DHS black hole?) An Op-Ed in The Boston Herald addresses the subject:
…Unless Washington acts to clear the backlog on their visa applications, many may die at the hands of al-Qaeda in Iraq or anti-American militias. Many more will languish as refugees. It does not need to be this way…
…There are steps the Obama administration could take now. First, Homeland Security needs more resources to clear the security check backlog. Second, a formal expedite procedure should be developed for applicants facing immediate danger. Third, there should be a clear process to appeal an incorrect or arbitrary decision. An SIV applicant who is now rejected is told only that there is some “derogatory information” in their file and is barred from appealing or addressing this “information,” even in the case of applicants with nine U.S. military officers recommending them.
If it is not possible to immediately clear the backlog or expedite the cases of our allies still trapped in Iraq, a more drastic solution is necessary: an airlift to Guam…
…Guamian politicians have already expressed support for the idea… Read more here
Posted in Afghan, Dept of Homeland Security, funding, Iraqi, Obama administration, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: DHS.Iraqi.Afghan, Guam, Homeland Security, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, refugees, resettlement, security clearance, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 24, 2011
A columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Senior Obama administration officials have told her that no airlift to Guam being considered for our Iraqi friends waiting on US special immigrant visas. Instead they say that there are top-level meetings dedicated to getting the SIV backlog cleared “within months” – and that efforts to clear the backlog will become more intense as the end of the year approaches. Trudy Rubin’s article is found in the Charlotte Observer:
In September 2007, Barack Obama made a stump speech berating the Bush team for breaking faith with Iraqis who had helped Americans.
“One tragic outcome of this war,” said Obama, “is that the Iraqis who stood with America – the interpreters, embassy workers, and subcontractors – are being targeted for assassination. … And yet our doors are shut.
“That is not how we treat our friends. That is not who we are as Americans.”
…In 2008, Congress passed legislation calling for 25,000 special immigrant visas, or SIVs, to be issued over a five-year period – to Iraqis whose lives were endangered because they’d worked for U.S. soldiers or civilians. The law’s criteria were so arduous that only about 3,600 have been issued; at least 1,500 are pending a decision.
What’s worse, the numbers have slowed to a trickle just as we’re departing. Only 10 SIVs were issued in August. The preliminary figure for September is 46. At that rate, it will be years before the backlog is cleared…
…Senior administration officials tell me of top-level meetings dedicated to getting the SIV backlog cleared – “within months.” I believe they are sincere, but the numbers aren’t moving.
Too many agencies are involved, and no senior White House official seems seized with this issue. (Where, I wonder, is the push from the National Security Council’s Samantha Power, who once wrote so eloquently on Iraqi refugees?)…
…There is one obvious way to clear the logjam: an airlift to remove our Iraqi friends from danger.
There is plenty of precedent for such an airlift. In 1975, after initially abandoning massive numbers of our South Vietnamese allies, Gerald Ford finally authorized a massive airlift to evacuate them to Guam and, eventually, to the United States.
In 1996, Bill Clinton ordered Operation Pacific Haven, which flew 6,000 Iraqi Kurds and other opposition activists from Iraqi Kurdestan to Guam, after Saddam Hussein’s troops invaded the region. If Obama ordered a similar airlift, security checks could also be conducted in Guam.
There are more recent precedents, too. The Poles, Danes, and Australians airlifted their Iraqi staff out of the country; after the massacre in Basra, the British returned and flew out endangered staff.
Are we less honorable than the Poles, Danes, Australians, and Brits? I’ll hold off on an answer. Yet, senior administration officials tell me no airlift is being considered…
…Administration officials also tell me that efforts to clear the backlog will become more intense as the end of the year approaches. But if those efforts fail, it may be too late to organize an airlift.
In 2007, Obama said we had a “moral obligation” to those Iraqis who helped us. History will judge him on how he honors that pledge. Read more here
Posted in Iraqi, Obama administration, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: airlift, embassy workers, Guam, interpreters, Iraqis, Obama, refugees, resettlement, SIV, special immigrant visas | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 5, 2011
A class action lawsuit has been initiated for soldiers and civilian contractors injured while on duty working for the U.S. government or a U.S. contractor in a war zone. Many of these people suffered extreme injuries but have only received paltry payouts from insurance companies. In addition to American soldiers and civilian contractors, foreign national civilian contractors including refugees and special immigrant visa holders (SIVs) are eligible for this suit. Although insurance companies made low-ball settlements with many of these foreign national civilian contractors before resettlement to the US – so as to avoid being subject to U.S. law – others remain eligible for the suit. The website for the Law Offices of Scott J Bloch, P.A. gives details of the class action case:
Defense Base Act Class Action
[The Law Offices of Scott J Bloch, P.A.] filed this action for damages in the amount of $2 Billion to remedy the injuries and destruction caused to the lives, finances and mental and physical well being of thousands of American families and Foreign Citizens whose loved ones were injured while serving America under contracts with the United States, and to punish the companies who made massive profits while causing this harm to people unlawfully and maliciously and working a fraud on the American public who paid them…
…One of the lead class plaintiffs, Daniel Brink, before he lost his legs in an IED explosion in Iraq working for DynCorp on December 22, 2005.
The last six years have been a living hell for him as he has been repeatedy denied medical treatment by CNA Insurance and DynCorp, given the run around and had $200,000 of medical bills unpaid, resulting in lost home, furniture, cars, and family. He even had his wheelchair repossessed due to CNA’s nonpayment after authorizing his wheelchair. He was without a wheelchair for a year. This is just one example of the torment contractors working in Iraq have suffered…Read more here
Posted in Afghan, Department of Defense, health, Iraqi, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: class action, contractors, insurance, refugees, resettlement, SIV | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 26, 2011
Diyar al-Bayati, 24, died last week of unknown causes after living as a refugee in Utah for three years. Before his death, he struggled with physical and emotional issues directly tied to his service during the Iraq War, including PTSD and the loss of both legs and the use of one arm in a 2006 roadside explosion in Iraq. An article in the Deseret News first told about Diyar’s arrival in the US in 2008:
By the time his plane landed in Salt Lake City late on the night of April 11 [2008], things weren’t going very well for Diyar al-Bayati. His motorized wheelchair had been mangled on the flight from Jordan to New Jersey, and then his luggage was lost. Still, al-Bayati was optimistic about one thing: that he would be greeted in Salt Lake City by Americans who were happy to see him.
After all, hadn’t he lost both his legs while working as an interpreter for the U.S. Army in Baghdad?
But there were no grateful soldiers at the airport that night. Instead there was one Somali refugee, sent by Catholic Community Services. The man insisted on speaking Arabic, in an accent al-Bayati couldn’t understand, and he wanted to take al-Bayati to the home of another Somali refugee.
“I said, ‘no, dude,’” remembers al-Bayati, who had perfected his American slang during his 200 combat missions with the 4th Infantry Division in 2005 and 2006. When Catholic Community Services then wanted to put him in a cheap hotel — “with the drugs dealers,” says al-Bayati — he said “no” again… Read more here
Now an article in the Salt Lake Tribune details Diyar’s last days:
…Still in his mid-20s, [Diyar Al-Bayati] left life last week, seated in his chair, neatly groomed for a dental appointment, his hairbrush in his hand…
…”As a soldier, interpreter, he was one of the most courageous people, soldier or Iraqi, I’ve ever worked with,” his Army commander, Dan Makay, said Saturday from Afghanistan. “He was a patriot, not just for Iraq but for America.”
Here in Utah, though, Al-Bayati lived alone in an apartment, said Debi Clark, a clinical social worker who was working with war trauma survivors when she met him in 2008….
…Injury-related night tremors and post-traumatic stress robbed him of sleep
But for years, Al-Bayati kept his “bright spirit” alive, Clark said, despite many more surgeries, infections and the pain medications that ultimately led to addiction.
“He was an amazing young man,” she said. “The first time I met him, I was just so worried. ‘What am I going to say to this young kid after having his life totally altered helping the military while we were invading his country?’ But he had such a good heart, and he was willing to help everyone.”
For a couple of years, Al-Bayati kept his equilibrium, enduring agonizing treatments with courage and optimism, said Ramin Rahimian, a photographer who spent a year making a video about him.
“He was ridiculously strong. He was a fort,” Rahimian said. “I’ve never seen anyone so strong. No one else I knew could go through such a thing.”…
…”He wanted legs, prosthetics. He was a very proud man, energetic. But he couldn’t reach his potential, and I think he felt that every day,” Makay said.
Al-Bayati never got the right prosthetics, and his AIG insurance — he worked for the private L-3 Communications, under contract with the U.S. government — paid less than $500 a month…
…For now, his friends and families can only mourn his passing amid regret that nothing he wanted — a family, new legs, an education — came to him.
“The light in his eyes, it was gone,” Clark said. “I want to remember him with that bright light.”… Read more here
Posted in disabled refugees, Iraqi, PTSD, Salt Lake City, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: AIG, Catholic Community Services, Diyar al-Bayati, health insurance, interpreter, Iraqi, L-3 Communications, lufthanza, mental health, military contractor, Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, refugees, resettlement, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa, Utah | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 13, 2011
An article at CBC News reports that Canada has rejected two of every three Afghans who sought refuge after risking their lives working for Canadian diplomats and military. Yet, even that puts Canada far ahead of the US. Our Afghan Allies program was supposed to award up to 1,500 visas each year through 2013, yet so far the US government has not handed out a single visa.
Two of every three Afghans who sought refuge in Canada after risking their lives working for the military in Kandahar have been turned away, including some who worked alongside Canadian soldiers during the bloodiest days of battle.
The special-measures program was announced with much fanfare by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in the fall of 2009 and brought Canada in line with other NATO countries which had already launched similar initiatives.
It ends Monday.
Applicants had to demonstrate they faced extraordinary risk as a result of their work with Canada. Few didn’t. Working as an interpreter for NATO forces in southern Afghanistan was akin to having a Taliban bull’s-eye on the back of a shalwar khameez… Read more here
Posted in Afghan, Canadian refugee resettlement pgrm, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: Afghan Allies program, Afghanistan, Afghans, Canada, interpreters, military, NATO, refugees, resettlement, Taliban | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Comment submitted for today’s State Department hearing on size & scope of refugee program
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 1, 2012
Posted in capacity, dangerous neighborhoods, democracy, language interpretation/translation, lack of, Office of Admissions, openess and transparency in government, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, State Department, Travel Loan Program, volunteers, World Relief | Tagged: Advocate, comment, Domestic Resettlement Section, FY2013, public hearing, refugees, resettlement, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), State Department, US Department of State | 1 Comment »