Moroccan tot reunited with family in the U.S.

[Meriem_DZ 37]

HERNDON, Virginia (AP) -- A groggy toddler from Morocco who had been separated from his parents for two years because of immigration delays was finally reunited with them Tuesday.

Ahmedyassine Boujrad, 3, is reunited with his father, Abdeloihab Boujrad.

Ahmedyassine Boujrad, 3, arrived at Reagan National Airport for a reunion with Abdeloihab and Leila Boujrad. Abdeloihab Boujrad, 38, is a U.S. citizen originally from Morocco.

The couple, who live in Alexandria, had been trying since June 2005 to get the necessary paperwork for Ahmedyassine to join them in the U.S.

Later Tuesday, Abdeloihab Boujrad explained how his son was asleep when he got off the plane. As his parents tried to wake him, the boy opened his eyes, saw his mother and father and muttered "I must be dreaming" before falling back to sleep.

His parents roused him a second time, and his eyes opened wide. "I am with you now," the boy told his parents. "I rode three airplanes to see you."

Immigration officials did not explain the delay, but officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which advocated on the family's behalf, felt certain it was caused by the boy's name. It is similar to Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder of the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas, who was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

In June, after media reports highlighted the Boujrads' plight, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved the paperwork allowing Ahmedyassine to immigrate.

"We were worried maybe he forgot us, but he was OK. He's a good kid," Boujrad said, as his son sat quietly and contentedly on his lap and played with some new toys.

Boujrad was living in Morocco in 1997 and engaged to Leila when he won an immigration lottery that allowed him to come to the United States. He married his wife in 1999 but was unable to bring her to the U.S. until 2005. She is now a legal permanent resident.

In the interim, Ahmedyassine was born in May 2004 in Morocco. Leila reluctantly left the boy in the care of her sister in the fall of 2005 when the visa allowing her to emigrate to the U.S. was about to expire. She assumed the paperwork problems for her son could be handled quickly.

The boy's name was a compromise between Boujrad, who preferred Yassine, and Boujrad's father, who preferred Ahmed. Boujrad said he didn't know who Sheik Ahmed Yassin was until somebody told him earlier this year that the name similarity might be causing the immigration problems

Link to story

Edited August 8, 2007 by Meriem_setif

[Michaela_Hassan 1]

HUGE security threat

[Ban Hammer 12,899]

HUGE security threat

hey i've changed a few dirty diapers in my life, it could be a huge threat in that regard