For Refugees, Family Reunification Can Be a Long and Difficult Road

“We—even we here—hold the power, and bear the responsibility.” –Abraham Lincoln

We, as a nation, resettle more refugees annually than any other country in the world.  And yet, it still doesn’t seem to be enough.

The Homeland documentary series follows Justin Semahoro, a Banyamulenge refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who relocated to St. Louis in 2008.  Justin is charismatic. Forward-thinking. Positive.  But in quiet moments, you can catch him speaking about the trauma of his past and the night he’ll never forget.  That’s the night in 1998 when his village in South Kivu erupted in violence, becoming another casualty in the Hutu-Tutsi wars raging across central Africa. It’s also the night that he last saw his parents, brothers, and sisters.

Today, Justin works as a fulltime translator and is an active member of the New City Fellowship Church in St. Louis.  Both his financial and spiritual endeavors serve a greater purpose, one that infuses the words of Abraham Lincoln with new meaning.  Nearly three years ago, Justin discovered that his brother and sister were alive and living in Kenya.  He’s been working tirelessly to support them ever since, hoping one-day they’ll join him in the U.S.  But there’s a catch – resettling refugee family members isn’t as easy as it once was.

Check out this video about Justin as he prepares for a two-month journey back to Africa to see the family he hasn’t seen in more than a decade:

Video edited by Anne Davis. Footage shot for Homeland documentary series.

A Complicated Path – by Evan Godt

If nothing else, Justin’s story illustrates the complexity of immigration and refugee issues. The process is long and arduous, with many possible pathways to enter the U.S., but often there are just as many dead ends.

The suspended program for refugee family reunification mentioned in the video is the Priority 3 category of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. First priority goes to individual refugee applications, followed by selected groups in particular countries, but Priority 3 was designed specifically to reunite refugees already in the U.S. with family members still stranded in refugee camps abroad.

When the program was running, the stateside refugee would file an Affidavit of Relationship (AOR) attesting to a close family tie with the refugee abroad. Over 36,000 people have been brought to the U.S. since 2003 using this path, with the vast majority coming from Africa.

But in the fall of 2008, the program was abruptly suspended. As mentioned in the video, people were claiming family ties that didn’t exist and a DNA testing program was only able to confirm a biological relationship in less than 20 percent of cases. The rest of the time there was a discrepancy in the results or the refugees refused to submit to the DNA test.

Justin would have had a hard time bringing his siblings through the Priority 3 program anyway as it is designed to reunite spouses or parents with their children. There are other avenues for refugee reunification, but they all come with catches. There’s a form called the I-730 that serves a similar purpose as the AOR, but must be filed within the first two years a refugee arrives in the U.S. There’s also something called a Refugee Interest Form which the stateside refugee can file, but that only says the stateside refugee is willing to provide assistance to the incoming refugee family members once they arrive; the family members will still have to be selected for resettlement as individuals.

As if the situation wasn’t complicated enough, Justin’s siblings have also taken a group of more than 20 young orphans into their care. This act of compassion may end up reducing their chances of coming to the U.S. as resettlement agencies have to act in the best interest of those children. This means an analysis of the situation must be conducted, including a search for the biological parents of the orphans if they are still alive. For Justin and his family, this means more paperwork and more visits to refugee resettlement agencies.

And more waiting.

Tags: africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, documentary series, family, family reunification, Justin Semahoro Kimenyerwa, refugee

Category: Refugees