It’s been 25 years since the 9/11 terror attacks touched every aspect of life in America — including for newcomers, who were in the midst of immigration processes, like seeking U.S. citizenship.
Tucson attorney Mo Goldman remembers the day and its aftermath vividly. He was living in New York City at the time, and had just started practicing immigration law. He says there was a bipartisan effort to overhaul the nation’s immigration system just before the attacks.
“And then President Bush had been very outspoken about trying to pass and sign a bill into law and 9/11 really derailed it,” he said. “It took four years before it even came back to bipartisan consideration, and we still haven’t gotten the reforms that we need.”
A host of restrictive border and immigration policies were introduced instead, many of which Goldman says impacted his clients for years. Things like the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System — a controversial program that required men from 25 different, mostly Muslim-majority countries who were living in or entering the U.S. to register with the government, submit to questioning by immigration officers, and other provisions.
Goldman says he’s seeing similar problems today with the Trump administration.
“So we’re seeing many cases, many applications for either asylum or for green cards or for other types of immigration benefits that end up getting delayed in sometimes an indefinite period,” he said.
KJZZ spoke with Goldman as he left a citizenship ceremony Friday for a client from Iran who’d waited nearly a year to take his oath. His original oath date was abruptly canceled last December after an Afghan national shot and killed two National Guard members and the Trump administration enacted widespread restrictions on immigration processing for several nationalities.
Goldman says it’s one of several cases he’s had to sue the government to move forward.
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