Article author:
Associated Press
Amy Taxin
Los Angeles (AP) — Two years ago, Leili Ghazi stopped researching biomedical engineering in Iran and had the opportunity to travel to the United States to build it. I grabbed it. She is a new life for herself and her parents.
Now, her 22-year-old father has been separated from his family indefinitely for more than 20 years ago, as he performed the necessary military service to recruit a branch of the Iranian army declared several years later by the U.S. government. It has been. Foreign terrorist organization. This designation prohibits anyone associated with the group from traveling to the United States, including their father.
"He had to do some clerical work and work on building plans," said Gazi, who has been anxious and depressed since moving to Southern California. .. She expected her parents to eventually join her, but she later learned that her father was forced to stay behind her. "He hasn't been active in going to war, etc. That wasn't the case."
Traveling to the United States has long been a challenge for Iranians, and visa applicants have to check their background. We often wait months or years for it to be cleared. However, since the Trump administration designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization in 2019, those who have served in the branch have been given visas to travel to, even if they have played a role of recruitment or non-combat. It's almost impossible to get. united states of america.
Many Iranian Americans and their families wanted the Biden administration to reverse the designated direction so that those recruited could still travel. .. They say nothing about which branch they are assigned to when Iranian men want to get a passport to leave the country, and serve mainly when doing basic tasks such as painting and clerical work. It says that it will be forced.
However, their hopes were shattered in late April when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that he had no plans to remove the designation, except for the change in Iran. He admitted in his statement in front of US lawmakers that conscription was the most affected, "people who are the real bad guys aren't going to travel."
"There should be exceptions, but so far there are no exceptions," said Ally Bolour, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer who filed a lawsuit over how the designation applies. "It's unfair for the US government to throw towels at everything and put everyone together. It's lazy."
The US has Hamas, Peruvian Shining Pass, etc. It specifies a long list of foreign terrorist organizations dating back to the 1990s. However, the group is almost entirely a civilian militia, not a state-owned entity like the IRGC, which recruits drafts under the law.
The Secretary of State may also, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Treasury Secretary, be reviewed by Parliament to designate a group and revoke it. For example, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia was listed as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and was delisted in 2021.
Providing support and resources to foreign terrorist organizations, non-US citizens cannot legally do so. You may enter the country and face deportation. In addition, the financial institution that manages these groups' funds must retain ownership of the funds and report to US authorities.
A US State Department spokesman could not immediately tell the number of former Iranian recruits who had visa applications affected by the designation. A spokeswoman said the application would be reviewed individually and in some cases exemptions could apply. The designation "is an effective means of playing an important role in the fight against terrorism, reducing support for terrorist activities and putting pressure on the group to get out of the terrorist business," a spokesman said.
However, immigration lawyers said they were responding to a large number of calls from former drafts dealing with the issue and did not believe there were exceptions. Scott Emerick, a lawyer working with Bolour, said he had received hundreds of calls and believed that the government could make exceptions to drafts that were not voluntarily recruited.
Chicago lawyer Tahel Kameri, who also filed a lawsuit, said he was calling daily from people asking how the designation would affect them. .. He said he did not believe the U.S. government could list the armed forces of other countries as foreign terrorist organizations, and that past administrations also had problems with the branch and declined to designate it because of the consequences. Stated.
"We are not saying what the IRGC is right or wrong, we are just saying that the way the designation is made is wrong," the rule. Said Kameri, who represents an Iranian-born, US-educated doctor who was influenced by the.
Fallout from the designation extends far beyond the United States. The Iranians said the United States is sharing data about travelers with countries in Europe and Canada, and they are also afraid that travel there will be blocked.
Some Iranian-born Canadians said they were previously scrutinized when traveling quickly and easily across national borders. Amir Abolhassani, a 41-year-old engineer, said he had traveled to the United States many times without problems as a Canadian citizen, but was recently stopped by authorities on a trip to North Carolina and the company planned to relocate him. New job.
Abolhassani was told he couldn't go because of conscription more than 10 years ago. He said the conscription system consisted of two months of basic training and the design of the branch's water pipeline. He said he needed services so that he could be randomly assigned and he could get a passport and leave the country to continue his education.
Currently, he and his wife have already sold their home for a move, but are confused because they cannot get a visa.
"The worst part is that they tell you you are a terrorist," Abol Hasani said. "We came out of the country because we opposed their policies and their actions. And now," you belong to that system, you belong to that system, and you are our list. It's part of the organization that did it. The terrorist organization. "—It's very unjustified. It's intolerable.
This designation also has a significant impact on Iranian citizens who have lived in the United States with a green card for years and want to become US citizens.
Paris Etemadi Scott is the Legal Director of the PARS Equality Center in San Jose, California, providing legal and social services to immigrants from Persian-speaking countries and other countries.
She is currently telling most clients, or their spouses, who served in the disputed branch to rethink applying for naturalization. When they go to the interview, they are flooded with additional questions. And she was forced to sign a detailed statement under an oath about their old military service.
"I thought this was Trump, but obviously nothing has changed," she said. "I told them,'I don't have the stamina to overcome this challenge anymore. I encourage you to wait."'