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<\/p>\nBy Eli Newman – The Yemeni American News<\/p>\n
Growing up in the Yemeni city of Taiz, Maren Al Shaibani\u2019s knew that one day she would make it to the United States. \u201cThis was my dream when I was young, Maren says. \u201cI\u2019d dream about the day I\u2019d come to America. I thought I would live like a queen.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It was a dream she\u2019d share with her husband, Ibrahim Senan. The two were wed in Saudi Arabia where Ibrahim worked as an accountant. It was also where the two would raise their daughter Layan through infancy. After living in Saudi Arabia for two years, Ibrahim was laid-off and their plans to come to the United States were put in motion. \u201cWe went to the [American] embassy in Saudi Arabia and we applied for a tourist visa,\u201d Maren says.<\/p>\n
The family planned to meet with mutual friends in Detroit whom they had met through Facebook. Gearing up for their flight, Maren and Ibrahim brought a lot of luggage for their new lives in America, including a suitcase full of gifts for their welcoming friends and a few others full of all sorts of clothing. \u201cIt was winter time and jackets are so expensive so we had to be ready,\u201d Maren explains.<\/p>\n
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But it was Maren\u2019s preparation that led them down a path of extreme duress.<\/p>\n
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After landing in Detroit last November and approaching United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Maren says a security officer noticed they were carrying a suspicious amount of luggage and the family was detained. It wasn\u2019t long until they told USCIS the truth; when the border agents told the family they would be deported to Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim said he wanted to declare political asylum.<\/p>\n
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USCIS would not comment on the specific nature of Maren, Ibrahim and Layan\u2019s detention, but Ibrahim\u2019s declaration didn\u2019t grant him access to the U.S. Though filing for asylum is possible at ports of entry, border agents have the ability to find applicants inadmissible and subject to deportation. \u201cIt is the law that providing certain information to obtain a visa based on [misrepresentation], you\u2019re subject to review and assessment,\u201d says Imad Hamad, Executive Director of American Human Rights Council, a group that\u2019s aided Maren since exiting custody. \u201cMr. Senan claimed asylum on the spot, he was taken into custody and his file became one case, and his wife and the baby became another case.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The separation of the family\u2019s cases and their subsequent alternative handlings was a subject of strife for Maren, but her seven-month-old daughter\u2019s health was another. \u201cShe didn\u2019t breast feed, so usually I have a machine,\u201d Maren explains. \u201cI asked [the authority] if I could have the machine, but they said no.\u201d As Maren and Layan were in custody, the two were moved from Detroit to Chicago, eventually landing at a detention facility based in Texas. \u201cI was scared, [Layan\u2019s] skin was turning yellow,\u201d Maren says. Eventually, Layan recovered in Texas and the two were transported back to Detroit where they were able to get residential status as she applied for political asylum.<\/p>\n
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The same could not be said for Ibrahim.<\/p>\n
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As Ibrahim\u2019s case was separated and Maren didn\u2019t have any record of their marriage, his fate remained unknown. \u201cNobody knew where he was for ten days,\u201d Maren says. \u201cI hadn\u2019t talked to him since going to Texas.\u201d The two were eventually able to talk on the phone. Maren was able to connect with her surrogate family in Detroit, but the attorney she entrusted to take care of their family failed to establish a legal connection between the two. \u201cWhen American Human Rights Council took over, we got a new lawyer. Five months later, I took my daughter and we visited him in the jail.\u201d Ibrahim has been in various Michigan Department of Corrections facilities since November 2016 and Maren\u2019s ability to visit him has been difficult; she needs a woman to dedicate half a day\u2019s time for the long drives to the jail.<\/p>\n
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In the end, it\u2019s likely Ibrahim will be deported to Saudi Arabia, an extreme burden on his family. \u201cI can\u2019t work there, because I don\u2019t have legal status to go there,\u201d Maren says. \u201cThey treat you like animals in Saudi Arabia.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Through her adversity, Maren remains undeterred in her belief in the American dream. Though she\u2019s unable to work given her current documentation, Maren seeks to learn English and will be able to apply for political asylum later this year. She says she\u2019s found a community in Detroit and has set up a crowd-funding campaign to help cover expenses. \u201cI have a dream to raise my child to be a good citizen. I know the society is not all bad, just like anywhere else, but still I feel like I can make it here,\u201d Maren says. \u201cThe beginning was hard, just like the first step is hard, but I have hope the end will be good.\u201d<\/p>\n