Details and attachments to press release:

 

Background:

I have applied for my citizenship on September seventh, 2004 and passed all checks including the criminal background check and concluded my interview on December 10, 2004.  Instead of approving my application, I was told that I needed to wait for my “name check” from the FBI to complete.  Before filing suit, I waited for over a year without ever getting an answer from USCIS as to if and when my application will ever be approved, contrary to federal law, which strictly stipulates that the government has to make a final determination within 120 days from the date of the interview.  Furthermore, I was approached and harassed by the FBI and was pressured to become an informant.  All of the above caused me to resort to legal action.

 

Documents:

  1. Judge’s March 22 order commanding the FBI and USCIS to finish the case in 90 days.
  2. Copy of original complaint filed on May 30, 2006.
  3. Summons to defendants.
  4. A short autobiography of Zuhair Mahd.
  5. My blog entries about the case.

 

Media Coverage:

Since announcing my intention to file suit in April of 2006, the case has been receiving increasing media attention, culminating with a CNN interview which aired on the Pala Zahn show in early January of 2007.  The media interest in the case renewed after the legal precedent set in March of 2007 by the judge’s order.  This page will be updated with links to media stories about the case as they become available (note, links open in a new window when you click on them.  If you have a pop up blocker, please click here for instructions on how to disable it or add this page to its list of allowed sites and then return to this page).

 

Pre-ruling coverage:

  1. CBS4Denver’s April 28, 2006 coverage:  This is a link to the article (complete with video) on the station’s web site, and this is a copy of the video from my web site (in case you have trouble viewing the clip on theirs).
  2. Interview on the Paula Zahn Show on CNN, January of 2007.
  3. Interview on the John And Ken Show, one of the largest talk shows in Los Angeles on December 18 (scroll through the web page to see the news for that day).
  4. Bruce Finley’s  Denver Post article, December 10, 2006

 

Post-ruling coverage:

  1. CBS 4 Denver, March 24, 2007.
  2. Denver Post, March 29, 2007.
  3. Rocky Mountain News, March 30, 2007.
  4. Denver Post, April 1st, 2007.
  5. National Public Radio, Day to Day, May 2, 2007.  If the above link doesn’t take you there, click here for the full episode which contained an extensive discussion on immigration, and click here to listen to the individual four minute segment.  Click here to access the show’s home page where you can view the archives and transcripts.
  6. Denver Post, May 18, 2007.

 

Additional updates:

“It’s not over till it’s over” someone said, and that’s exactly the case here.  On May 14, 2007, the government filed an update with the court claiming that my FBI name check has been completed and that USCIS has received the results and is ready to make a final determination on my case.  Being a firm believer in the Regan doctrine of “trust but verify”, I repeatedly called USCIS over the following month to verify whether the name check has in fact cleared or not – the answer I got was that it has not.  They have even sent me a letter stating this much.  In the mean time, they have continued to ask me for extra evidence in the form of tax records, travel documents, employment history and lots more.  I told them I’d give it to them if they could provide me with a legal basis, but the answer I got was “we’re the government, we can do whatever we want”. They ultimately denied my application for being bold enough to challenge the government to which I’m looking for benefits (I’m not attached to the values and government of the United States), and we’re back in court.

 

Second Phase Documents:

  1. USCIS’s notice requesting additional evidence and a video taped interview.
  2. My March 29 and June 8 letters challenging their request for evidence and requesting a legal basis for it.
  3. May 14 government memo claiming that the FBI name check has been completed.
  4. June 4 letter from USCIS saying that the Name Check has not been completed!
  5. Judge’s August 7 order for the government to show cause as to why I shouldn’t be immediately made a citizen and setting the August 31 hearing date.
  6. Government’s reply to the judge’s order in which they requested cancellation of the August 31 hearing.
  7. My reply to the government request above.
  8. Judge’s order denying the government request to cancel the hearing.
  9. Minutes of the August 31 hearing.
  10. Transcript of the August 31 hearing.
  11. Judge’s order to the government to produce FBI Name Check within 10 days.

 

Second Phase Media Coverage:

  1. Denver Post, August 15, 2007.
  2. Denver Post, September 1, 2007, “Judge lambastes feds in case of blind immigrant”.
  3. United Press International (UPI), September 1, 2007.
  4. Denver Post, September 2, 2007.
  5. CBS 4 Denver, labor day week end coverage.
  6. Denver Post, September 21, 2007.

 

Citizenship at last!

On Wednesday March 19, 2009, after nearly five years, I finally got a notice from USCIS indicating that their initial decision to deny my request for citizenship has been overturned.  I am due to be sworn in on March 31, 2009 at 10:00 AM in a private ceremony at the new USCIS building in Denver.

 

Articles in the press

  1. Denver Post, March 20, 2009.
  2. Denver Post, March 31, 2009.
  3. Denver Post, April 1, 2009.
  4. Fox 31, March 31, 2009.
  5. Asia Pacific Forum, WBAI Radio, NY, March 31, 2009.

 

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