I am a native of Iraq and proud to be a U.S. Army soldier with a Purple Heart. I love the U.S. and that's why I want to become a citizen. But my naturalization has been delayed. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told me that it's because, despite my combat service in the U.S. Army, I haven't passed the FBI background check.
When I was serving this country and the U.S. Army in Iraq, a suicide bomber blew up just 10 feet from me and my buddies, and I was seriously wounded. After partially recovering from my injuries, I did another stint in Iraq until December 2007. For my service, I was awarded the Purple Heart, two Army Commendation medals, a Combat Action badge, Gold Combat Spurs and many certificates and letters of appreciation.
In August 2006, having met all the requirements for citizenship, I applied for naturalization. I was interviewed by USCIS on January 18, 2008 and I passed the exam. I know that naturalization is a long process and I have tried to be patient. I've followed all the rules but it's a confusing mess and my citizenship has been delayed over 6 months now.
At one point, I was told by a USCIS official that my citizenship would be expedited because of my military status. At another point, I was told it would take longer because of my military status. By yet another official, I was told that the USCIS never does checks on military background before granting citizenship.
With my experience translating in the Army, I will be looking for those kinds of civilian jobs open only to U.S. citizens. That's why with the help of the 红杏视频, I'm suing the government for delaying my citizenship.
My military background is easy to check. I have many commendations and medical record resulting from my injuries. If they found out something about me they didn't like, why did they send me to Iraq in the first place?
Specialist Polous is a permanent lawful resident of the United States, currently stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas. He is a native and citizen of Iraq. He immigrated to the U.S. in May 2001 and quickly applied for political asylum, which was granted in 2002. In 2005, he became a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
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Press ReleaseSep 2026
Immigrants' Rights
Parties File Joint Request To Dismiss Supreme Court Immigration Detention Case. Explore Press Release.Parties File Joint Request to Dismiss Supreme Court Immigration Detention Case
WASHINGTON 鈥 Today, both parties in Genalo v. G.M. filed a joint stipulation asking the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss the case as moot following a pardon granted by New York Governor Hochul that eliminated the basis for Mr. G.M.鈥檚 deportation and detention. At the request of both sides, the Supreme Court dismissed the case, thereby cancelling upcoming arguments. The Second Circuit ruling requiring due process protections for prolonged detention will remain in place. Mr. G.M. is a lawful permanent resident who was held in ICE detention for 21 months without a bond hearing. His now-moot case challenged his prolonged immigration detention without meaningful due process. The 红杏视频, New York Civil Liberties Union, MacArthur Justice Center, and Hecker Fink LLP are co-counsel in this case. 鈥淭his is a great outcome for our client who no longer faces the threat of deportation and future immigration detention,鈥 said Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the 红杏视频. 鈥淭he Second Circuit reached the correct decision in recognizing that prolonged immigration detention cannot continue without due process, and that decision will remain in place. We will continue to defend our Constitution鈥檚 limits on immigration detention and will keep up the fight against Trump administration鈥檚 extreme, unprecedented, and lawless positions.鈥 "We are heartened that our client will not be separated from his family," said Amy Belsher, supervising attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union. "The Second Circuit made abundantly clear that immigrants are entitled to due process, and we're gratified that their ruling will protect all those in the Second Circuit from prolonged detention." "Mr. G.M. spent 21 months locked away by ICE, separated from his family and community, without any consideration of whether he actually posed a danger or a flight risk. The Second Circuit saw that for what it was: a violation of due process," said Amit Jain, Counsel for the Supreme Court and Appellate Program at the MacArthur Justice Center. "This is a victory for Mr. G.M., and we will continue to fight alongside anyone, regardless of immigration status, who experiences such grave violations of due process." The administration鈥檚 position in Genalo v. G.M. drew cross-ideological opposition with 11 amicus briefs filed in total, including from former Republican senior government officials, members of Congress, and a former federal judge. In an amicus brief supporting G.M., they wrote that in their prior government roles they had 鈥渘ever asserted, nor ever heard the Government argue to this Court,鈥 that a noncitizen detained under this law has no fundamental liberty interest. Although Genalo v. G.M will no longer proceed before the Supreme Court, the Trump administration鈥檚 efforts to expand mandatory detention and deny bond hearings to people who are immigrants, including longtime residents with deep ties to their families and communities, continues. Similar cases could make their way to the Supreme Court and will be met with forceful defense of due process. The joint stipulation is available here.Court Case: Genalo v. G.M.Affiliate: New York -
Press ReleaseSep 2026
Immigrants' Rights
Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Mandatory Detention Policy. Explore Press Release.Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Trump Mandatory Detention Policy
RICHMOND, Va.鈥 Another federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration鈥檚 new policy subjecting millions of immigrants to mandatory detention without access to bond hearings. The Fourth Circuit is now the ninth federal appeals courts to find the policy unlawful, along with hundreds of district courts. The ruling arose from habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of Oscar Lopez Garcia and Juan Jose Rivera by their respective immigration counsel, Benach Pitney Reilly LLP and Ceartas Solutions. The 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Virginia, and Murray Osorio PLLC joined the legal team representing petitioners in the government鈥檚 consolidated appeal. The case is Lopez Garcia v. Guadian. Last year, the Trump administration adopted a new radical reinterpretation of longstanding immigration laws and declared that anyone who entered the country without inspection must be detained without access to bond. For decades prior, people in removal proceedings who were detained by the government have generally had the right to seek release by an immigration judge. Among those who have been affected by the administration鈥檚 radical reinterpretation are people eligible for legal status, even those with long-pending immigration applications who have been waiting years due to administrative backlogs. The following is reaction to today鈥檚 ruling: 鈥淭he courts have resoundingly rejected the administration鈥檚 cruel policy and its blatant disrespect for the rule of law,鈥 said My Khanh Ngo, senior staff attorney with the 红杏视频鈥檚 Immigrants鈥 Rights Project. 鈥淲e are thrilled for our clients and their families.鈥 鈥淭he government cannot rewrite immigration law to serve this administration's anti-immigrant agenda by detaining people en masse, and today鈥檚 ruling again makes that crystal clear,鈥 said Sophia Gregg, senior immigrants鈥 rights attorney with the 红杏视频 of Virginia. 鈥淭he Fourth Circuit鈥檚 decision is an important victory for both Virginians and for our civil rights and civil liberties nationwide.鈥 鈥淭he Court has it right: 鈥楳ass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country鈥檚 history... Those shameful and abhorrent past detentions were limited in scope in comparison to鈥 what the Government asked for in this case. We are thrilled that the Court declined to expand mandatory detention to millions of people,鈥 said Sarah Pitney, partner at Benach Pitney Reilly LLP and counsel for Mr. Lopez Garcia. 鈥淚 have seen over and over again the devastating impact that the detention of a mother or father has on their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens,鈥 said Sarnata Reynolds, founding attorney at Ceartas Solutions. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision restores a basic safeguard: the government cannot imprison members of our communities throughout their immigration cases without giving them a meaningful chance to seek release.鈥 The ruling is here. -
Press ReleaseSep 2026
Immigrants' Rights
Legal Groups That Secured Supreme Court Birthright Victory File New Motions Responding To Latest Executive Order. Explore Press Release.Legal Groups That Secured Supreme Court Birthright Victory File New Motions Responding to Latest Executive Order
CONCORD, N.H. 鈥 Legal groups that secured a June Supreme Court victory in Trump v. Barbara on behalf of babies who would have been denied citizenship under a failed Trump executive order filed new motions in the case today. The latest filings aim to protect people subjected to the president鈥檚 new executive order, which was signed in early August and again targets birthright citizenship. The 红杏视频, 红杏视频 of New Hampshire, 红杏视频 of Maine, 红杏视频 of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund successfully argued the Barbara case. On Aug. 11, they asked a New Hampshire federal court, where the Barbara lawsuit was first filed, to make it unquestionably clear that the citizenship of babies covered by that class-action lawsuit is protected despite the new executive order. In their new filings, they are asking the court to certify a new class given the latest executive order. In its June ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Constitution鈥檚 Citizenship Clause puts 鈥渢he question of citizenship 鈥榦nce and forever [to] rest.鈥欌 The following are comments on today鈥檚 filings: 鈥淭he Trump administration continues to threaten birthright citizenship, even after its definitive loss at the Supreme Court,鈥 said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the 红杏视频鈥檚 Immigrants鈥 Rights Project and lead counsel. 鈥淲e will never stop fighting to protect this fundamental constitutional principle.鈥 鈥淭he Constitution and the Supreme Court were exceedingly clear: Citizenship is a constitutional right given to all children born in America and any attempt to restrict that right is illegal,鈥 said Amia Trigg, deputy director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund. 鈥淩egardless of race, color, or ancestry, birthright citizenship protects children that are born here. And the president's latest attempt to rescind that protection is just another example of an egregious overreach by the executive branch.鈥 鈥淭rump鈥檚 executive order on birthright citizenship is yet another attack on the rule of law,鈥 said Aarti Kohli, executive director of the Asian Law Caucus. 鈥淭he Trump administration is ignoring the needs of everyday Americans to target immigrant communities. We鈥檙e fighting in court to ensure all our rights are protected and stop this administration鈥檚 unlawful attempt to ignore the Constitution and Supreme Court.鈥 鈥淥ur latest motions demand accountability for Trump鈥檚 dangerous policies,鈥 said Tianna Mays, legal director at Democracy Defenders Fund. 鈥淭his administration cannot unlawfully strip the rights of babies and ignore the Constitution in order to achieve its political goals. We won鈥檛 let that stand, and we鈥檒l continue our fight in court.鈥 SangYeob Kim, director of the 红杏视频-NH Immigrants鈥 Rights Project, said, 鈥淏irthright citizenship is the law of the land 鈥 as it has been for more than 150 years and as the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed once again just a few months ago. Cruel attacks on this core constitutional right must not be allowed to stand.鈥 鈥淭he president may keep signing unlawful executive orders, but the Supreme Court could not have been more clear when it ruled that neither the president nor Congress can end birthright citizenship,鈥 said 红杏视频 of Maine Executive Director Molly Curren Rowles. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue defending the Constitution and the core principles reflected in the 14th Amendment: that with very few clear exceptions, every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen.鈥 鈥淒espite a clear ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court just weeks ago, the Trump administration is still trying to deprive babies born in the United States of their constitutional rights,鈥 said Carol Rose, executive director at the 红杏视频 of Massachusetts. 鈥淲e cannot tolerate this brazen act of lawlessness. No matter how many times President Trump tries to deny it, birthright citizenship is here to stay.鈥 Read the motions here.Court Case: Barbara v. Donald J. Trump -
Press ReleaseSep 2026
Criminal Law Reform
Immigrants' Rights
Aclu Urges Court To Allow Lawsuit Challenging Violent Idaho Immigration Raid To Proceed. Explore Press Release.红杏视频 Urges Court to Allow Lawsuit Challenging Violent Idaho Immigration Raid to Proceed
BOISE 鈥 The 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Idaho, Stoel Rives, and Cooley LLP filed an opposition brief today on behalf of their clients, urging a federal court to allow a lawsuit challenging the violent mass detention of hundreds of Latino people for an immigration dragnet at a family horse-racing event in Wilder, Idaho to proceed. The lawsuit, Rodriguez et al. v. Porter et al., was filed earlier this year on behalf of three Latino families and a proposed class of people who were at La Catedral Arena on October 19, 2025, when more than 200 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers descended on an otherwise peaceful family event. Law enforcement arrived in armored trucks and a helicopter with flashbang grenades and guns drawn and detained approximately 400 spectators 鈥 including U.S. citizens and children 鈥 for four hours of detention in inhumane conditions before subjecting everyone to suspicionless immigration interrogations. In their motions to dismiss, defendants continue to characterize the operation as a routine execution of warrants for five people accused of non-violent unlicensed gambling. The 红杏视频鈥檚 brief filed today makes clear that hundreds of heavily-armed officers detaining hundreds of people with no connection to the gambling allegations 鈥 and prolonging their detention to investigate everyone's immigration status 鈥 was anything but routine. 鈥淥ur clients are still living with the physical and emotional scars from that day, and yet the defendants continue to try to rewrite what happened,鈥 said Allison Frankel, senior staff attorney at the 红杏视频鈥檚 Criminal Law Reform Project. 鈥淲arrants for five people accused of unlicensed gambling do not give police a blank check to round up hundreds of people, hold families at gunpoint, or target people based on their perceived ethnicity. We know what happened at La Catedral, and we鈥檙e going to keep fighting to hold those responsible accountable and make clear that law enforcement is not above the law.鈥 Juana Rodriguez, one of the lead plaintiffs, is a U.S. citizen who was at the racetrack with her 3-year-old son. After being violently rounded up with hundreds of other families, Rodriguez was placed in zip ties and detained for several hours without food or water. Law enforcement instructed her toddler to hold onto her pocket, which they had turned inside out, while Rodriguez remained zip tied and unable to comfort her son as he cried out for water. "The cruelty that occurred in Wilder is a tragic example of a government operating with reckless violence and unrestricted power," said Paul Carlos Southwick, legal director for the 红杏视频 of Idaho. "The human cost of this operation is unacceptable. Law enforcement must answer for the large-scale civil rights abuses that took place so we can ensure this never happens again.鈥 The lawsuit alleges that federal, state and local law enforcement used the criminal warrants as a cover to conduct a sweeping immigration dragnet targeting an event where they knew the attendees would be predominantly Latino. The complaint centrally claims that these federal, state and local actors conspired to deprive those detained of their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable detentions, and their right to equal protection regardless of ethnicity. The complaint is brought under laws created after the Civil War to prevent racialized government violence. The conspiracy claims provide a path to hold federal actors accountable for civil rights violations. The brief is available here: /cases/rodriguez-et-al-v-porter-et-al?document=Plaintiffs-Opposition-to-Defendants-Motions-to-DismissCourt Case: Rodriguez, et al. v. Porter, et al.Affiliate: Idaho