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Direct Access to the United States
Matt Burke / 28 March 2008
"Working as an interpreter for the American forces was never safe," remembers Hakim, a 42 year-old Iraqi from Baghdad. His job, translating for Americans training Iraqi policeman at a new Baghdad police academy, lasted a bare four months. "My troubles with the militias and terrorists started very soon after I became an interpreter.," First his car was shot at, then the Iraqi police officers he was training threatened him when Hakim caught them stealing supplies. Eventually, he received a death threat from the Iraqi wing of Al Qaeda accusing him of spying for the Americans.
"Our entire extended family was threatened with execution, and I was personally singled out for working with the American forces," he explained. Offered no protection by his American employers, he fled with his wife and son to Syria and then to Egypt.
In leaving Iraq, Hakim, his wife and their son joined the estimated 2.5 million Iraqis who have fled the killings and social disintegration following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Over 150,000 came to Egypt, where life is a daily struggle.
"It is impossible for a refugee to obtain permanent residence in Egypt, and it is exceedingly hard to secure stable and permanent employment," he explains. However, being a naturally optimistic person with a relaxed easy smile, he landed a job in his field that supports his family while he searched for a permanent life outside of Egypt. He currently translates the financial news for television in Egypt.
A year after his arrival in Cairo in August 2006, Hakim learned that Iraqis could immigrate in the US if they could prove previous employment for American forces in Iraq—a position paired with monumental personal cost for Hakim and most of his coworkers. Now, almost two years after fleeing to Cairo, he found out that he might actually make it.
The Direct Access Program is part of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), a State Department program that allows certain Iraqis to bypass the usual long process applying for immigration. In January 2008, the program was further accelerated by the "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007" inserted into the Defense Bill by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass) and others, and signed by President Bush.
Under the "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007" Iraqis can be eligible for a fast-track to the US if they fit into one of six categories. The first four cover former full-time interpreters or staff of the U.S. government in Iraq, employees who were hired directly by an organization closely associated with the U.S., or Iraqis employed by a U.S.-based media organization or NGO. If an individual fits into one of these four criteria, a fifth allows close family members to be candidates for the program as well. The sixth category accepts any Iraqi who is a family member of a U.S. citizen, or the spouse or children of a Green Card holder.
Hakim thought he was an ideal applicant. In Iraq, he recalls, "they [the Americans] gave me a badge but they said ‘Don’t put it on your clothes or they will kill you.’" Fortunately, Hakim saved every card, photograph and letter that could prove his association with American forces in Iraq. On his application form, he mentioned the cities where officers he worked with live in the U.S. today. "If I could go, I prefer California," he smiled. "It’s expensive but there are a lot of media channels there."
Only a small number of the 150,000 Iraqi refugees in Egypt meet these criteria. By February 25, according to US State Department statistics, the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/USCIS) had interviewed 9,000 Iraqis in various countries. The Bush administration has set a target of 12,000 Iraqis to be admitted to the US this fiscal year, ending on October 1st. As of February 20, 2008, 1,646 Iraqis had been admitted to the US, leaving 10,354 people to be admitted by September 30 to meet State Department goals.
At his second appointment, Hakim waited eight hours for his interview with the DHS officer. This interview is the second step of the process. The DHS officer sends all information about Hakim and a summary of this interview for a security check. Hakim and his wife and child received two fifteen-minute interviews.
"I was waiting with Iraqis, Sudanese, many. So I tried to make the environment very nice by making chats. Nobody told me their stories. I encouraged them to be strong," he said. "I said to them, ‘Smile, it’s not the end of the world.’"
Three months later, Hakim got an email from the offices of the International Office of Migration, a UN agency that administers the Refugee Admissions Program. She told him to phone her for his results. On the phone, the IOM employee refused to hint whether Hakim could hope. The next day, after waiting an hour and a half, he was brought into the office. He had passed the DHS security check.
One test remains before Hakim can say good-by forever to Cairo: a medical exam for himself, his wife, and his son. Blood tests, chest x-rays, and other tests are still ahead, but Hakim is sure they will all pass. He’s already applying for a job in the US.
He found it on the internet.
