Posted on 06/28/2007 11:01:39 AM PDT by Bokababe
ST. LOUIS-After nearly eight years in the United States and a court fight with the government, Bosnian war refugee Adila Palalija can finally call herself an American.
She is one of 34 Bosnians enjoying their first days as U.S. citizens. The group had filed a federal lawsuit in March, claiming the government was unlawfully delaying their applications to become citizens.
The Bosnians became citizens Friday during a festive ceremony at Harris-Stowe State College. The case was dismissed the same day, as lawyers said the refugees had gotten the relief they had been seeking.
"We're celebrating, yes," Palalija said Tuesday through a translator.
About 40,000 Bosnians settled in the St. Louis area in the 1990s, following the war in the former Yugoslavia. 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 sought waivers, claiming disabilities should excuse them from taking the citizenship test in English. The waiver requests were approved, but their applications toward citizenship stalled.
The disabilities ranged from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder to medical conditions, such as stroke. Each person provided certification of physical or mental impairments.
The lawsuit was resolved when the government reviewed the facts and decided they were eligible for naturalization and exempt from the civics and language requirement, Lever said.
Lever said the Saint Louis University Legal Clinic and the St. Louis office of the Catholic Legal Assistance Ministry worked on the case.
This is rare & unusual to happen. Getting US citizenship use to be quick. No delays. Getting legal status is another thing.
Dozens sought waivers, claiming disabilities should excuse them from taking the citizenship test in English.
Did they demand a Saudi trained imam as well at the oath?
This is sooo disgusting given what I know about their intentions.
Not at all. The standard route is 1 year refugee/asylee, then auto green card, then 5 years residence, then citizenship. Add all the bureocratic delays, etc, it takes about 7-10 years.
Hey, at least these guys are doing it legally.
Ironic, because you have had 10's of thousands of Serbs in Missouri for the last hundred years and there have been several hundred thousand Serbs in the Chicago area for just as long, but you never had problems like this before!
Requiring a translator ought to immediately disqualify them from citizenship.
I agree -- and I don't care who they are. Unless they are over 80 years old or unable to speak or think properly, there is no reason for them not to learn English if they want to live here -- and that goes for everyone, no matter where they are from!
'xactly. Blackbird.
There is already a routine waiver for the elderly that does not require a law suit.
“Each person provided certification of physical or mental impairments.”
Now that’s what we need in America. Way to go Billy.
USCIS has a lot of work to do. If the amnest bill passed, processing times at USCIS were expected to jump to 8-12 years per case.
St. Louis has benefited quite a bit from Bosnians moving into the previously economically-depressed area of South City. And BTW, most of them are not Muslim.
I wonder if that’s because Serbs aren’t followers of the religion of pieces?
/s>
But that's the rub, Sabrita, the press never calls them "Bosnian" unless they are Muslims. The Christians from Bosnia get called "Bosnian Serbs" or "Bosnian Croats", etc, in spite of the fact that King Tvrtko, whose crest (with the fleur de lis) was the pre-war flag of Bosnia and who basically founded Bosnia, was NOT a Muslim! Tvrtko fought Muslims.
Yes, it means that each one is likely going to be collecting some form of public assistance once they become "citizens". Just what we need, more foreigners on the dole -- and Muslims to boot!
George Bush plans on allowing hundreds of thousands more Muslims in our country.
Maybe this will cause the Jihadists to hate us less!
I know people who have lived in Canada for decades, yet speak very, very little English (not to mention French). I don't get it. How do they go about their daily lives without speaking the language? What's the quality of their life? They are missing out big time. English is not that hard to learn, especially when it is being spoken everywhere you go.
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