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Iraqi-born soldier sues over citizenship delay

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An Iraqi-born U.S. soldier who applied for U.S. citizenship more than a year ago has filed suit, claiming federal officials have ignored their own deadlines for processing citizenship applications.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court of Kansas on behalf of Army Spc. Julian Polous Al Matchy, whom the organization says is a member of the 1st Brigade’s Military Transition Team at Fort Riley, Kan.

Fort Riley officials on Wednesday couldn’t immediately confirm his status on the base.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are Attorney General Michael Mukasey; the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; and a district director for the Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Spokespeople for most of the agencies didn’t immediately return phone calls for comment. Kevin Steck, spokesman for the FBI’s Kansas City office, said he couldn’t comment as it involved pending litigation.

In the suit, the ACLU said Polous Al Matchy was born in Iraq and immigrated to the U.S. in 2001, receiving permanent legal resident status in 2005. He joined the Army in March 2006 and was sent to his homeland as an interpreter.

The lawsuit said he filed for naturalization in April 2007 under a provision allowing armed services members to forgo the typical residency requirements.

He was seriously wounded by a suicide bomber in September 2007 and was scheduled to leave Iraq with his unit in October but agreed to extend his tour until December, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said Polous Al Matchy received the Purple Heart, two Army Commendation Medals and other honors for his service.

Polous Al Matchy said in the lawsuit that he was interviewed by the Citizenship and Immigration Services in January and was supposed to have his application either granted or denied within 120 days.

Instead, he said he’s been told security checks are still pending. His attorneys claim the FBI’s background check process often results in “false positives” and can take years to clear.

“Spc. Polous Al Matchy has been robbed of his statutory right to naturalize solely because of the bureaucratic failings and callous inaction of two federal government agencies — USCIS and FBI,” said the lawsuit, which asks the court to either grant Polous Al Matchy naturalization or order the agencies to process his application immediately.