After the death of a sister, a brother, and a son, Ramlo Ali Noor finally reunites with her sons. The 37-year-old Somali refugee has spent years fighting piles of paperwork and a tough legal battle that our dedicated team was more than happy to help her with.

There are so few success stories for those seeking refuge in the United States. To see what makes this case so unique yet tragically common, let’s look at the past, some immigration law roadblocks, and what this case could mean for the future.

The Past

After separating from her husband, Ramlo Noor was left in charge of her three sons. Together, they left Somalia for Malaysia in 2010 to apply for resettlement as a refugee within the United Nations (UN). The UN referred her to the United States, which would only accept one family member to start. Not wanting to separate the boys, she left her children with two aunts and plant to reunite with her sons once she had a home for them. One of those aunts was murdered in a militant attack in Mogadishu.

In 2015, Noor paid to move her sons to a safer location in Uganda before applying to bring them to the United States. Over the next few years, she waited for news and handled any paperwork thrown her way. In 2019, the State requested that she send additional evidence to clarify some alleged inconsistencies in her applications.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) finally approved Noor to bring all three of her sons to the U.S. pending medical and security checks. Overjoyed, she contacted her family in Uganda to share the good news, only to be greeted by tragedy. Her youngest son, Abdaziz, died from a sudden brain infection at 16 years old.

Her other two sons, Abdirahman and Abdullahi, moved to live with their uncle in a crowded Kampala housing complex, waiting to be reunited with their mother. After their brother’s death, the brothers struggled with their grief, and Noor even reported fears that her younger son had developed suicidal tendencies.

Immigration Under the Trump Administration

That is where our story last ended: a treacherous situation filled with fear, grief, and uncertainty. Under the Trump Administration, the United States had just released a plan to slash the refugee ceiling to 18,000, which would be the lowest ceiling since the modern refugee program began in 1980. Of those slots, 10,500 are reserved for Iraqis, Central Americans, and religious minorities, leaving 7,500 slots for everyone else.

When this story was last updated in 2019, 30,000 refugees had passed their resettlement interviews abroad USCIS, but only 8,800 were approved to travel.

Current Updates

We are proud to say this is not where Noor’s story ends. Noor hired us to file a lawsuit against USCIS and the State Department for the unreasonable delays that prevented her from connecting with her sons. The case was successful, and on December 26th, 2022, Noor’s sons finally stood on United States soil. It took them 12 years since they first left their home country of Somalia, but they were finally together in a country where they could be safe.

We are so glad that our team of immigration lawyers was able to help give this family the happy ending they deserve. Sadly, there are thousands of stories of families just like Ramlo Noor’s trying to reconnect with their loved ones after escaping unsafe situations. This is a systematic problem that cannot be fixed by simply one law firm. However, until the core issues are fixed, we will continue fighting for families like Noor’s to ensure that loved ones do not have to spend more nights apart. To learn more about similar immigration cases or get help with yours, reach out to our practice today.