Brandon Stanton's Blog, page 198
December 19, 2015
“She wants to learn everything. Once we got stopped at...
“She wants to learn everything. Once we got stopped at the Canadian border because she was reading a book on nuclear physics.”
December 18, 2015
“We’re process nerds. People don’t realize how important...
“We’re process nerds. People don’t realize how important it is for refugee applicants to get every single detail right. One misstep can lead to dire results. We think Aya is in a very vulnerable situation right now, so we’re going to get her appeal filed as quickly as possible. Luckily Betsy and I like to think we are the fastest people in the world at filing these types of appeals. Unfortunately, Aya’s case is not uncommon. These refugee rejections can be based on extremely tangential circumstances. We’ve had clients get turned away because of a crime committed by a distant relative that they’ve never even met. One client’s case was put on indefinite hold because of his connection to a childhood neighbor that he hadn’t spoken to in twenty years. Bureaucratic decisions like these can exclude deserving refugees and leave them at risk of further harm. International Refugee Assistance Project has been very successful with our appeals. The fact that we have one million signatures on Aya’s behalf is really going to help. Once we can elevate the case to a higher profile, it will be reviewed at a higher level with more careful scrutiny. We have so many people watching over this case. And after interviewing Aya about her family history, I’m feeling very good about this. We’ll keep everyone informed every step of the way.”
This is Lara ‘The Terminator’* Finkbeiner. Along with Betsy ‘The Hammer’* Fisher, she will be spearheading Aya’s case. Betsy is represented by the intercom because she is working from Minneapolis.
*Nicknames assigned by me and may or may not be in common usage.
Before we move on from Aya’s story, I want to introduce...
Before we move on from Aya’s story, I want to introduce you to our allies who will be handling the next phase. The International Refugee Assistance Project is a refugee advocacy organization that organizes lawyers and law students across 27 law schools and 60 law firms. Last year, they turned a one million dollar budget into ten million dollars in legal services to refugees. They are very good at what they do, and have helped resettle thousands of refugees. Appeals filed with their assistance have a success rate many times the normal average. We had a long meeting today, and everyone is very energized and optimistic about Aya’s appeal. After conducting long interviews with Aya, the team thinks that Aya “is remarkable” and “has a very strong case.” Adding, “We also love George.”
Aya’s new legal team is headed by Becca ‘Mama Grizzly’* Heller, who founded IRAP along with fellow students from Yale Law School. She was accompanied to the meeting by 'Baby Anna’ Heller, who took her first car ride today. Mama Grizzly* will be firing all her guns, and tells me that because of Aya’s vulnerable situation, she will be expediting the case to the maximum of her abilities.
*Nickname assigned by me and may not be in common usage
December 17, 2015
Yesterday was a “rest day” for me. It’s been an emotional week. Telling Aya’s story was tough...
December 15, 2015
(11/11) “Six months ago my father disappeared. He left one...
(11/11) “Six months ago my father disappeared. He left one morning and didn’t come home. That morning he answered the phone one time, and he said: ‘I’m fine, Aya. I’ll be home soon.’ And he never answered the phone again. You can’t imagine what this has done to my mind. I don’t know if he is dead. I don’t know if he remarried. I know nothing. All day and night I must imagine what has happened. I haven’t even told my younger sisters. I tell them that Daddy went to Istanbul to work but he will be home. They wouldn’t be able to take it. I still post old photos to his Facebook page so it seems like he exists. But it’s been six months, and they want to know why he hasn’t called. I promise he’s a good person, really. I love him so much. He loved me too. He always told me that he was proud of me and I was going to be something in life. But how could he leave me like this? How could he leave all of this on my shoulders? I’m twenty years old. I can’t handle all of this by myself. I don’t need him to work, or make money, but I need him. I need my Daddy. I can’t do this alone much longer. I’m getting tired. I’m a warrior and I’m strong and I’ve fought so much but even warriors get tired. I’ve been having crazy thoughts lately. I don’t want to do it. I’ve been through so much. I wanted to go to school and be something in life. But I can’t do this much longer. I’m alone here and I’m in a very bad place. I feel very scared. I never wanted to be the traditional Arabic girl who marries her cousin and spends all day in the house. I’ve worked so hard to escape it all. And I know it’s dangerous. But if things don’t change for me, I think I’ll have to go back to Iraq.”
————————————————————–
As of now, 4% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% of the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice. And if you know someone else who might care about Aya’s story, please consider sharing:
http://www.change.org/friendsofaya
(10/11) “It was like a nightmare. I fell on the floor and...
(10/11) “It was like a nightmare. I fell on the floor and started screaming: “No, no, no!’ I cried for days. I couldn’t go to work because my eyes were so red. I went to the hospital and they had to give me medicine to calm me down. Security related reasons? What can that mean? They don’t know my family. I know my family. My father was a train driver. Every male in our country had to do military service for six months when they were young, but he only did the radar. He swore to me that he’d never even touched a gun in his life. Our family loved America. My father always told me about America. He made us go talk to American soldiers during the war. Other people were afraid of Americans, but he told us they were here to help us and not to be afraid of them. He told us that America was a place where so many different people lived in peace. So many religions. So many communities. We loved America! Every day we watched Oprah. My father promised me that one day we would go on her show and meet her. We even wrote about Oprah for our assignments in school. Why would we ever hurt America? All of my dreaming ended on the day this letter arrived. I became a person without hope.”
—————————————————
As of now, 3.5% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% of the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice:
(9/11) “We applied for resettlement in America. We did all our...
(9/11) “We applied for resettlement in America. We did all our paperwork. We had two different interviews in Istanbul. Then we waited for a very long time. For months I kept checking the website, but it always said: ‘Case pending.’ Then one night my friend called me, very excited. It was midnight. She told us there had been an update on the website. I ran to the computer, entered our case number, and it said ‘Case accepted!’ I zoomed in on the word 'accepted’ and my hand started shaking. I screamed to my family: ‘Turn off the TV! We’re going to America!’ It was like a wedding. We turned on the music. We started dancing and crying and kissing each other. A new life! The United States! We couldn’t believe it! Over the next few weeks I spent so much time on the computer. I searched for schools for my brother and sisters. I found the university I wanted to study in. I found a hospital for my mother. I was searching for jobs for my father. I had everything planned. I even found extra clothes for George because I thought it might be cold. In the evenings I’d sit with my sisters and help them plan what their rooms would look like. And Christmas time was coming. We thought we would go to New York during Christmas time! We were even planning to see the big tree! For two months we dreamed like this. Then a letter came in the mail.”
————————————————————-
As of now, over 3% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% of the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice:
(8/11) “My years in Turkey have been the hardest four years of...
(8/11) “My years in Turkey have been the hardest four years of my life. When we first arrived from Syria, we couldn’t communicate with anyone. I had no friends. If we wanted an egg from the store, we had to make chicken sounds. I paid for everything in this apartment by working as an interpreter for an NGO. We started at a zero and I built us up to a six, all by myself, and I’m very proud of that. But we can go no further without citizenship. I can’t get a degree. I can’t work any other job. Turkey has taken many refugees and we should be thankful for that. And the people here were nice to us at first. Our neighbors brought us rice and food. But then more refugees came. And more. And then everything changed. Now people shout at us in the streets. They tell us to leave. But we have nowhere to go. A man recently started sending me messages on Facebook, saying: ‘Get out!’ I didn’t even know him! Why me? Why did he choose me? We’ve had to switch apartments four times because our landlord decided that Arabic people are no longer allowed. I’ve been hit by a car. My sister got hit in the face at school and lost two teeth, and now her vision is bad in one eye. Being a refugee is really hard. They blame us for everything. They blame us for no jobs. For crowded streets. For crime. They say that we are the reason for everything bad. And if war ever comes to Turkey, we’ll be the first to die. Because they’ll blame us for that too.”
————————————————————-
As of now, 2.5% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% of the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice:
December 14, 2015
(7/11) “George is my refugee dog. We’ve been through many...
(7/11) “George is my refugee dog. We’ve been through many horrible things together. I found him in Baghdad when he was just a puppy. My father and I were driving down the road and I saw some teenagers holding George by the ears and hitting him. I jumped out of the car and begged them to stop and gave them all the money I had. George was so thin and dirty, and the doctor said he was very sick and he’d only survive if I took perfect care of him. And look at him now! He’s been with me through Iraq, Syria, Turkey… everything. Whenever he sees me crying, he jumps in my lap and uses his paw to pull my hands away from my face.”
———————-
As of now, 2% of the HONY community has signed the petition supporting Aya’s appeal for American resettlement. It would only take 6% the community to reach a million signatures. Please consider adding your voice:
http://www.change.org/friendsofaya
Brandon Stanton's Blog
- Brandon Stanton's profile
- 770 followers
