CLCMA is pleased and excited to share that our client, Ahmad S., became a naturalized citizen after he recently took the oath of allegiance in a stunning group ceremony before a federal judge. This great accomplishment was possible because of Ahmad’s own attentiveness to his application and CLCMA stepping in to challenge USCIS’s unjustified delays and roadblocks. As is often the case for members of the Muslim community, his application was stuck in the USCIS system’s Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (“CARRP”) because of “guilt by association.” Ahmad, who has no criminal record, was being subjected to additional travel screening and an unexpected personal visit from immigration officials who made it clear that they had the power to impact his immigration applications. Wisely, he recognized the need for attorney intervention to counteract the government’s tactics.
CLCMA took up representation of Ahmad’s applications before the agency, which led USCIS to agree that he met all of the eligibility requirements to be granted U.S. citizenship. “The USCIS process should be predictable and based on the actions of the applicant seeking legal immigration status. It is patently unfair for USCIS to penalize an immigrant seeking continued legal status, and who is qualified in every way, based on the government’s review of the actions of someone else just because the applicant happens to know that other person, ” stated Kathryn H. Brady, Immigration Department Head for CLCMA and one of the attorneys representing Ahmad before USCIS. CLCMA hopes our continuous diligence in challenging USCIS’s discriminatory practices through the application of CARRP, both at the agency level and in federal court lawsuits, will create systemic change to the CARRP system so that qualified immigrants will not have to endure these unreasonable policies in the future.
