A bottle
of gasoline was thrown into his family's residence, burning it to the
ground. In April 1992, several men entered the family store and
assaulted Ruben, hospitalizing him for 22 days. Ruben, Asmik, and their son Arthur, who was 3 years old at the time,
left Armenia and entered the United States on visitor visas. They
applied for political asylum that same year on the grounds that they
would be subject to physical attacks if returned to Armenia. It took 16
years for their case to be finalized, with the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals denying their asylum case in January 2008. At this time, Ruben, Asmik, and Arthur have exhausted every option to
obtain immigration relief in the United States. While Ruben and Asmik's
other son, Arsen, is a U.S. citizen, he is too young to file a green
card petition on their behalf. It would be a terrible shame to remove this family from the United
States and to separate them from Arsen, who is 20 years old and a U.S.
citizen. The Mkoians have worked hard to build a place for their family
in California and are an integral part of their community.
Keywords matched
immigration asylum case visas green
card