PORTLAND, Maine — In 2012, Yassin Saker, at the time a 55-year-old University of Maine at Presque Isle graduate with a degree in mathematics, was moving his family of four from the suburbs of Damascus, Syria, closer to the safer and more controlled center of the city. War had just broken out, and the city was constantly being bombarded by jihadist mortar and rockets strikes.

According to Saker, now 58, the family witnessed death and destruction on an almost daily basis.





“During that time, we escaped death over 20 times,” Saker said. “I told my wife that something had to change.”

Fighting in Syria started during the Arab Spring in 2011, when pro-democracy protests erupted over the arrest of a group of students who engaged in anti-government protests. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, protests against President Bashar Al-Assad and his government intensified.

Rebel brigades were established to battle government forces, and by 2012 fighting had reached the capital of Damascus, where Saker and his family were living. More than 6,000 people have been killed by government-dropped barrel bombs in and around the area of Damascus, where the family lived.

Saker described a time when he was walking with his 7-year-old son, Mustafa, to school when a rocket struck the ground 200 feet in front of them but didn’t explode.

“The people started running in every direction,” Saker said. “I took my son and hid behind a wall. We had many encounters like that. I saw so many explosions.”

The United Nation reported that by March 2015, the conflict killed more than 220,000 people and displaced 7.6 million Syrians from their homes. More than 4 million people have fled Syria, in one of the largest mass exoduses in history.

Saker and his family are part of that group, but their journey is far from complete. While he is in Portland, working to find the means to bring his wife to Maine remains in diplomatic limbo. Saker and his three children are U.S. citizens, but she is not and the children remain with her in Syria. Their situation highlights the complexity of U.S. immigration policy and the challenges new Americans encounter when trying to get settled here.

Saker’s motivations to bring his family to America weren’t just influenced by the threat of imminent danger. His family also was struggling financially. According to Saker, despite his degree at an American university, his age prevented him from getting any jobs in Syria.

“We didn’t have any money in Syria,” Saker said. “I was borrowing from everybody, and we had to sell all our gold just to pay rent.”

For Saker, the first step toward crafting a new and safe life for his family started when he traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, in 2013 to secure U.S. citizenship for his three children: Raneem, Mustafa and Moaz. A U.S. citizen since 1995, Saker then arrived in the U.S. in March to find work, save money for his family and start the process of getting his wife, Fadia Al Shibbli, a residency visa.

Since Saker has been in Maine, he said his main focus has been to work hard and bring his family to Portland so they can finally live without fear. But the realization of that dream remains elusive.

“My wife has no money at all,” Saker said. “I’ve been trying to find her American sponsors. And she’s now pregnant with our fourth child, so she can’t work.”

Each week Saker’s schedule is filled with slicing meats and cheeses at the Hannaford deli on Forest Avenue, then returning home to talk with his wife and children for a couple of hours using Viber, a free international calling service.

Saker said that besides checking his email and phone for updates from the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, an organization assisting Saker in securing his wife’s residency papers, that’s all he does — work and worry.

“It’s very lonely for me,” Saker said. “No one knows but me and God, but it takes me about three hours to fall asleep because I’m constantly worrying about my family.”

The advocacy project, located on Cumberland Avenue in Portland, is working with Saker by providing free immigration information and legal assistance. Saker’s wife needs to submit an individual civil record, a family record, the results of a new medical examination and comprehensive financial records.

Phillip Mantis, an asylum attorney at ILAP, said he deals with a host of immigration issues but hasn’t had many clients from Syria. The organization has agreed to look into Saker’s case at no cost.

Because Saker already has filed a petition for his wife to join him, he’s waiting for his wife to have an interview with a consulate officer who then will determine whether she’s eligible for a green card.

“As long as the interview goes well and they prove the validity of the marriage or that person isn’t a criminal or a terrorist, that person is welcomed into the U.S.,” Mantis said.

According to Mantis, Saker also will have to prove that if his wife and children settle in the U.S., he’ll be able to provide for them financially. If he can’t, he’ll have to find a co-sponsor.

“They have to make a certain amount of money,” Mantis said. “So they don’t become dependent on welfare.”

Saker said he sends more than half the roughly $1,000 per month he makes at Hannaford to Syria to pay rent for the apartment in which his wife and children temporarily reside. With the rest, he pays his own bills in Portland but is frustrated at his inability to save.

“It is very difficult, but what keeps me going is eventually seeing my family,” Saker said. “I really need some help. We are very poor people.”

Saker described the United States as the best country in the world and the only place where he wants his family to be. Maine in particular holds a special place in his heart. Altogether, Saker has spent 25 years in Maine and previously worked in several retail stores and banks.

“The dream that anyone can come here [America] and establish a life from nothing is alive,” Saker said. “The people here have been so good to me.”

He worries about the impact that living through the violence in Syria will have on his children.

“If the conflict was to end in Syria today, the people would need 1 million psychologists to help with what they’ve seen,” Saker said. “It’s so scary over there. It’s not going to be safe to live in Syria for many years to come.”

According to Mantis, U.S. immigration courts do not give any preference to applicants who are seeking asylum from war torn Syria. They’re placed in a general pool.

“A lot of Syrians are fleeing to neighboring countries and seeking refugee status abroad,” Mantis said. “I support immigrants’ rights. I think everybody should be welcoming to new Mainers, regardless of where they come from.”