Sarkisian family’s quest continues
By Timothy Pratt

Las Vegas Sun
May 16 2005

LAS VEGAS SUN

Sitting at a Formica table in that most American of institutions,
the pizza parlor, Ukrainian-born Rouben Sarkisian made a fist-pounding
point about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

“This is everywhere real,” he said.

“It hasn’t changed since 1776 … and this is a real democratic
republic.”

The point, perhaps obvious for most, was a revelation for Sarkisian
— who learned while studying for the federal citizenship exam he
recently took and passed — that the United States is the way it is
now because of events 229 years ago.

Sarkisian is the father of Emma and Mariam, perhaps the most famous
teenage sisters living illegally in the United States and almost
certainly the only ones in recent history saved from deportation by
a last-minute phone call from a high-ranking senator to the secretary
of homeland security.

His passing the test was key to the future of his daughters, since
becoming a citizen is the only way he can then petition for them to
do the same, which would guarantee their future in the United States.

But the case — already full of headline-grabbing twists and turns
— is still not over because passing the test, which included such
questions as “What were the original 13 colonies?” is not the same
as being accepted as a citizen.

As Peter Ashman, head of the local chapter of American Immigration
Lawyers Association, put it, “He’s a step closer, but he’s not
there yet.”

That step was taken in the half-hour exam April 20, after months of
late-night studying between pizzas at the Tropicana Pizza in Green
Valley that Rouben runs.

He said he was very nervous, since many people had told him the test
would be difficult for someone whose years of 12-hour work days
had left little time for studying English, let alone U.S. history
and politics.

But he passed, which felt, he said, “like an angel came down.”

That means he knew the answers to questions such as, “How many senators
are there in the Congress?” and “What is the Bill of Rights?”

Now he awaits a letter from federal immigration officials notifying
him of being approved in his application to become a citizen, at
which point he would be scheduled to take an oath of citizenship at
the George Federal Building.

If he reaches that step, he would be one of an average of about 300 new
citizens a month in the Las Vegas area, according to Marie Sebrechts,
spokeswoman for the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Services.

And then he could petition for his daughters to acquire legal status.

As with everything in this case, however, there’s a catch, and more
last-minute events may be in store.

The catch comes from the conditions left in place after Sen. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., called Tom Ridge on Jan. 26 and asked the official —
whose office oversees immigration — to give the case “personal
attention.”

The sisters had been detained in Las Vegas Jan. 14 and sent to a Los
Angeles holding cell pending deportation to Armenia, their birthplace.

The story of the Sarkisian sisters began more than a decade earlier,
however, when their parents brought them to this country. The couple
had three more daughters here, then got divorced. Rouben married
a U.S. citizen and obtained status as a resident, the step below
citizenship.

He thought he had obtained status for Emma and Mariam as well over
the years but found out otherwise when on Jan. 14 he took them to the
Las Vegas office of the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Services
for papers he thought would allow Emma to obtain a driver’s license.

Instead, the sisters were sent to Los Angeles and scheduled to be
sent back to Armenia, a country where they don’t speak the language
and have no family.

The media caught wind of the case. The public opposed the move and
let Nevada’s congressional delegation know it. Reid made the call
to Ridge after nearly two weeks of constant headlines and dozens of
calls and letters to his office.

But federal authorities released Emma and Mariam under what’s called
a “deferred action.” This means they still have no legal status in
the country and must report to authorities periodically. Their first
appointment is scheduled for late July.

So now the family is nervous about what happens if Rouben hears
nothing about his application until then, and they wonder why it’s
taking so long to hear from immigration authorities.

Ashman said he has seen some cases take a year or more to be
resolved. One reason for the hold-up could be that the FBI background
check required of all applicants may not have been completed, he said.

The Rev. Phil Carolin, executive director of the Citizenship Project,
a nonprofit organization that helps immigrants become citizens, said
that most people who seek help at his agency receive their acceptance
letter, which includes the swearing-in date, within two to six weeks
of having passed the test.

Kathia Pereira, an immigration lawyer who works pro bono for the
project, said that federal law says immigration authorities must
respond in 120 days or less, but are taking longer since Sept. 11,
mostly because of the FBI check.

Sebrechts said that about 15 percent of all applicants who pass the
test then have the same line checked off that was checked off for
Rouben’s case on a form called “Naturalization Interview Results.”

The line says simply, “A decision cannot yet be made about your
application.”

Carolin said those who have that line checked off in his agency wait
an average of six months to hear from authorities.

At the same time, however, Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, said Emma and Mariam’s stay in the United
States is not necessarily in jeopardy just because the father’s
application for citizenship is still up in the air.

“The period of their deferred action is indefinite … (and) no
enforcement action is imminent,” she said.

The appointment for the sisters in July “is to check up on the status
of their case and see if anything has changed.”

Meanwhile, Rouben continues working in his pizza parlor and says that
he “remember(s) everything” he learned while studying for his exam.

“This is a real democratic republic,” he repeats.

“I am so happy my babies live in this country.”