After more than a year of hard work, our clients Aqeel and Narjis, along with their two oldest children became U.S. citizens on December 17, 2024! Their youngest child was born in the U.S. long after the family immigrated to the Detroit area and is already a citizen.
Aqeel and Narjis both have full-time jobs at a major retail store where they are valued colleagues and employees. The children are all in school and are busy with friends, after-school activities, and family time. They are like any other family except both parents are deaf and primarily communicate using Iraqi sign language. Citizenship test preparation took a lot longer due to the need for translation support, which our friends and interpretation partners at DEAF C.A.N. provided. Thanks to the tenacity and patience of our Staff Attorney, Mary Lou Boelcke, this family is now “all American”.
The citizenship ceremony was presided over by Judge Elizabeth Stafford in Detroit.