At Faith in Action Bay Area, we recently met Aziza, a U.S. citizen since she was 3 years old, who fled the violent civil war in Yemen to attend public high school in San Francisco. She is now a second year political science major at San Francisco State University who dreams of becoming an immigration lawyer.
Last fall, like any American, Aziza mailed in an application to renew her U.S. passport. After months of waiting, she received a formal letter from the State Department saying that an “investigation” had revealed that Aziza’s U.S. citizen father was in a “polygamous mariage” with her mom and thus the government planned to revoke her U.S. citizenship.
Aziza was shocked and devastated. “I believed in the system,” she says. “I thought the U.S. was an equal and good country.” She was 3 years old when she became a U.S. citizen, and now as a college student her identity as an American may be taken away from her.
Aziza is worried that the documents needed to prove her citizenship is valid may have been destroyed in the war in Yemen, and she does not have enough money to pay for a lawyer to defend her rights. Making matters worse, the State Department says the only way to appeal the decision is to travel in person to Washington, D.C. Her appeal hearing will take place on April 12.
Can you donate to help Aziza pay for a lawyer and travel to Washington, D.C. to appeal the State Department’s unjust attempt to revoke her citizenship?
Aziza needs to raise $7,000 which includes: $3500 for a quality lawyer; $2000 for Aziza, her mom, and the lawyer to travel to Washington, D.C. in April to appeal the State Department decision; and $1500 to research documents in Yemen or get a flight for her dad to return from Yemen for the hearing.
