Posted on 03/28/2007 1:14:18 PM PDT by Bokababe
ST. LOUIS-Thirty- five Bosnian war refugees have filed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. government is unlawfully delaying their applications to become United States citizens.
The Bosnians, who came to the U.S. legally to escape persecution in the former Yugoslavia, have disabilities that range from post-traumatic stress disorder related to the war to various medical conditions, such as a stroke, their lawyers said Tuesday.
About 40,000 Bosnians settled in the St. Louis area in the 1990s, making it one of the major centers for such refugees in the country. They were asked to wait five years before applying for citizenship, said Ann Lever, litigation director for St. Louis-based Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
Dozens asked for waivers due to disabilities to excuse them from taking the citizenship test in English and were told those waiver requests were approved, she said.
"Every one of them had to submit certification of physical or mental impairments, " Lever said. But then, "Their applications just sat there, and sat there, and sat there."
The officer-in-charge of the St. Louis office of the U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Chester Moyer, said he had not been aware of the lawsuit and could not comment on it.
Lever said 50 Bosnian war refugees filed suit last year over the same issue. Federal officials did not fight that lawsuit, and a special ceremony to naturalize them was held last year.
That successful lawsuit helped to prompt the latest court action.
Fatima Kolic, 74, has lived in the U.S. for more than seven years. She said her federal retirement payments have been cut off because she has not become a citizen.
Kolic, who has diabetes and needs a wheelchair to get around outside of her apartment, said she has been losing sleep over the fact that her citizenship has not been approved.
"I just can say it's very hard to live," she said.
Oh good, so we can expect more human time bombs like Utah's Suleyman Talovic, coming to your neighborhood soon!
I don't know about you, but when I want something from someone, I don't think it's smart to sue them.
I think I will apply to become an illegal or a guest citizen so I can get a federal check. Why should someone who never worked a day in their life here get a check?
I have an idea: if they don't like the way we do things here, send them home. It is an insult to the people of the US that we have to bring them here and then pay them SSI, which was meant for Americans with no other resources, not parasites from foreign countries who belong to a religion that has vowed to destroy us.
Why would they want to become citizens? Then they have to follow all kinds of pesky laws. Latino immigrants are doing just fine.
Besides, how can they use our legal justice system if they do not yet have the rights granted to citizens of the United States under our Constitution? Becomming a US citizen is suppose to be a priveledge for foreigners, not a right granted by God.
We are sorry for not making everyone on the planet a US citizen. We'll get right on that. Just find your way over here.
[I think I will apply to become an illegal or a guest citizen so I can get a federal check. Why should someone who never worked a day in their life here get a check?]
Me too. I actually looked into it to see how hard it would be. By my half witted research, I can't degenerate my status to illegal immigrant without being granted citizenship in another country and changing my name and identity. It might be worth it, however and I would probibly pursue it if I lost my job and needed to support my family.
America is nuts.
"The Bosnians, who came to the U.S. legally to escape persecution.."
I wonder how many Christians were allowed into the country to escape religious persecution vs. Muslim escapees.
Bump
This crap has got to stop.
What demanding arrogant bastards.
Every single refugee, asylee and "family reunification" immigrant we get immediately qualifies for every social service on offer. Those of Social Security age receive SSI, which is Social Security for people who never payed into the system, as well as Medicare. For 20 years, immigrants have been bringing in granny and gramps and signing them up for SSI. This is why you see so many elderly immigrants. In the far East, China and environs, there are entire newspapers devoted to telling people how to do this. It is a drain on our system that is rarely discussed.
America is doomed
Look on the bright side. If the Bosnians in South St. Louis ever get bored, we have plenty of malls for them to shoot up.
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