Caught in the Red Tape Visa Black Hole

A 15 year old boy caught up for four years, now 19 years old, in trying to get a Visa to the US to join his family from Iraq. You can read the original article Part One here and Part Two here, and here is Part Three here and then below is where I was quoted.

"We have cases of husbands waiting five to six years while their wives were cleared in a few months," said Affad Shaikh, a civil rights coordinator for the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Still, a parent-child separation of four years?

"That is unusual," Shaikh said. "That's incredible."

The unfortunate situation, is not isolated. I am receiving several calls from community members whose family members are caught up in this situation. The worst case was that of Ahmed Yasin, a 5 year boy whose parents had tried for years to bring to the US but his file was mysteriously lost. Through CAIR it was discovered that his file was lost because of a FBI NAME CHECK and the child was probably being held because of a the Sheikh who was assassinated by Israel - Sheikh Ahmed Yasin. He was a crippled elderly man who was blown to shreds. Young Ahmed Yasin was being stonewalled by the government because they couldn't figure out the difference.