DEARBORN — While local Arab Americans and Latino Americans of various denominations have all had major struggles with the United States’ immigration system, perhaps no group has faced as many difficulties as the Yemen American community. 

Long lines of Yemeni Americans asked Ambassador Feierstein for help in January but most problems remain unresolved. Many citizens’ wives have been stuck overseas for years. PHOTO: Natasha Dado/TAAN

The United States Embassy in the capital city of Sana’a, Yemen says it is currently unable to process immigrant visas because of political instability, but numerous U.S. citizens of the Yemeni American community have been waiting for as long as three years to complete visa procedures to bring their spouses here that originally seemed promising but never came to fruition.   

“It’s been a good 2 ½ years since I started the process and my wife Amani was supposed to get an appointment; we’ve been waiting since January for her to come in, it’s ridiculous,” said Sal Abdullah, an American citizen from Dearborn. 

Abdullah is one of many Yemeni Americans who have turned to U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Detroit) to help expedite the painfully long process but they haven’t made any progress through his office. 

“You don’t get anywhere with them, we keep getting the runaround,” Abdullah said. “It’s funny because I’ve got a friend who is trying to get his kid, but they say they can only help people who are American citizens…but I am and I’ve got my wife I want to bring in and they say we can try to help you, but all they can do is take the case number and forward it to another embassy and say ‘We’ll contact you,’ that’s it, there’s nothing they can do.” 

The problem seems widespread in the community as evidenced by the creation of a new Facebook group titled “Victims of the U.S. Embassy Sana’a, Yemen (Delayed Immigration Cases).” The group had 240 members as of press time with many sharing similar stories of extreme frustration over having their spouses and family members in some cases stuck in Yemen. 

Many report that the embassy has been operating at an extremely slow pace even before the current uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the country. 

Others have seen family members fall victim to policies that place them on probation for as much as two years at a time for testing positive for qat, a popular leaf that is chewed for its stimulating effects in Yemen but is considered a drug by the United States. But reports from group members say that they have only tested positive for amphetamines and not qat specifically in some of these cases, results that could have come from a variety of common medications. 

One member of the group, a U.S. citizen from Oakland, California who is in Taiz, Yemen now and did not wish to be identified due to fears that her husband’s visa process would be delayed even further, said she has been married for six years and expected a smooth process in obtaining a visa for her husband and to bring her daughter to America to see her mother and father as well. 

But the process has taken about three years so far with no signs of being resolved and she feels trapped.  

“I feel like they are taking advantage of this situation and making people like me be stuck out here…I am out of ways to be helped, I have tried everything and all we receive are automated messages.” 

U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein visited the Yemeni American community in Dearborn for the first time in January of this year. Numerous people seeking visas have been told through long, back-and-forth communications with Levin’s office that the ambassador is the only one who can help resolve issues in Yemen involving their cases, but no progress has been made. 

At the January meeting more than 400 community members packed Greenfield Manor in Dearborn with desperate hopes of speaking to Feierstein one-on-one, stepping to the podium to address him in waves. Yemeni American Benevolent Association Executive Director Ali Baleed said on behalf of the community:   “We are trying to bring our families and it should not take 10 to 20 years.” 

Feierstein spoke about combating terrorism and the U.S. hoping to build more ties with Yemen and community members reaffirmed their condemnations of such groups, as well as their love for America and opposition to such rogue groups in Yemen. 

The community made its case to the ambassador noting that they consist of doctors, lawyers, engineers and others who love America and take pride in being citizens but were disappointed in his vague response. 

One of the group’s creators, Haroon Mihtar, received a letter in July from Levin’s office saying Feirstein was contacted on behalf of Michigan constituents experiencing problems and that a response from him was “forthcoming.” However, Mihtar has been waiting more than 2 ½ years to bring his wife home from Yemen and was declined a request for a face-to-face interview with Levin.  

He has been told to transfer his case to another embassy since they are all under U.S. control and are designed to help American citizens, but several countries have not been able to help in the Middle East area; the trail has even led to the Ethiopian embassy but he still has not been helped. Abdullah has had similar problems, forwarding his case to Jordan and Egypt but not receiving help due to what they said was an extreme volume of cases. 

Currently, the group is planning a protest outside of Levin’s Detroit office to raise awareness for the cause in September, after Ramadan. They also are calling on Levin to make a public statement condemning the U.S. Embassy in Sana’a for the severe delays in processing immigrant visas. Those interested in volunteering can email haroon9977@yahoo.com or call 313.228.5572. 

Levin’s office in Washington, D.C.
released the following statement: “Sen. Levin’s office
assists hundreds of constituents and visitors each year with their
visa and immigration matters, including many Yemenis and
Yemeni-Americans. The office can assist as a liaison between the
constituent and the Department of State and make certain inquiries on
constituents’ behalf.

“It’s not easy, I’ve got to support myself over here and my wife over there, and then when we finally get hold of our wives there’s nothing good to even talk about because there’s so much frustration,” Abdullah said.