WASHINGTON, D.C. — Thousands of people have become invested in the case of Muhammad Kamran and his family. Muhammad was an interpreter in Afghanistan for U.S. troops and the War on Terror for over a decade. He has been in hiding for four years, trying different avenues to find safe passage for his family out of Pakistan to the U.S. But so far, every case has been denied, with no reasons given publicly.

A letter sent July 31, signed by 38 members of Congress, aims to get an answer why.

Though Muhammad’s situation has only gotten more dangerous while he waits, a small social media link via text and video chats to Cornell University Ph.D. student Kristy Perano keeps him hopeful with updates. Perano and her family have been advocating to get Muhammad, his wife, and four daughters, ages 3 to 10, to the U.S. for more than a year.

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Perano first met Muhammad in January 2017 he was asking for help on the nonprofit organization No One Left Behind's Facebook page. She connected with Muhammad at a point when he was almost ready to give up after being denied entry to the U.S. as a refugee twice. He started applying for refugee status in July 2014. Muhammad had lost all contact with the US military when he fled Afghanistan in 2014 and thus was unable to pursue a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), but he has since re-connected with former Navy Lieutenant Karsten Daponte, who is supporting his case. However, despite Daponte and Perano’s efforts, Muhammad has had difficulty obtaining all the documents needed to pursue an SIV case.

This story is an update to previous coverage of Muhammad Kamran's case. For more background on the case, read these stories:

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Perano ended up working with a Seattle-based immigration lawyer Danielle Rosché who specializes in humanitarian parole. Rosché helped Muhammad and his family apply for humanitarian parole, which temporarily allows people into the U.S. if they have a compelling reason. In Muhammad’s case, he is actively wanted by the Taliban. Perano has maintained a list of frequent police encounters and medical scares the family has faced while hiding in Pakistan. His home is often raided by police and despite offering bribes he has been badly beaten several times. In March, he was stabbed by armed robbers while out of his house to avoid a military raid and nearly died from an infection. His wife and daughters have also had health scares at times.

“It has become increasingly difficult to keep Muhammad and his family safe in Pakistan in large part because of escalating ethnic tensions. Muhammad and his family used to have encounters with police or have to dodge a military raid every two months. Now it’s every two weeks,” Perano said. “We have looked into trying to get Muhammad and family to another country, but very few countries want Afghan refugees now, and Canada’s immigration system is so backlogged they said it could take five years to get his case processed even if we found a sponsor there.”

Due to the danger he and his family continuously face, Perano and Rosché felt they had a strong case. However, in October 2017 that case was denied after only two days of consideration.

The denial was not just for Muhammad, but for each member of his family who filed separate applications. USCIS refused to disclose why they denied the humanitarian parole cases but denied the cases because Muhammad had been denied before as a refugee. USCIS further claimed that the same discretionary “information” applied to every member of the family, and consequently, even Muhammad’s young daughters were a security concern.

Muhammad's case has garnered a lot of public attention over the past year. Nearly 50,000 people have signed a petition advocating for his case to be reopened. No One Left Behind and Veterans for American Ideals, both nonprofits that advocates for interpreters, have endorsed the case and provided assistance with lobbying Congress. Matt Zeller, the CEO and co-founder of No One Left Behind, called Congress’s letter a “profound” level of support for the case. The director of the Afghan Women’s Project, Peggy Kelsey, has also written a letter in support of the case.

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Chatting over WhatsApp on Thursday, Muhammad said he deeply appreciates the support his case has gotten and said he is happy that he is not alone.

"I am really happy that my nearly 50,000 American brothers and sisters signed the petition for me and did all (this) to fix injustice and get justice for me. I am very happy that I am not alone and all of these nice people are with me and Congressmen have also cared about me and my small kids and they care about our life," he said.

Despite the current circumstances, Muhammad said all the support has made him even more proud of his work with the U.S. He said he was also thankful for the help of the Perano family, who has not forgotten about him or his problems "even for one second," and considers them part of his family now. The Peranos, who live in California, agreed to co-sponsor his humanitarian parole case if he gets approved to come to the U.S.

Perano and some of her family and friends have spent the last several months working to get bipartisan support from members of Congress for the sign-on letter. They went to Washington, D.C., and met with 19 House offices and 25 Senate offices.

Ultimately, 38 members of Congress, including local Congressman Tom Reed, have signed on to a letter asking USCIS to release information on why Muhammad's case was denied. USCIS has previously only stated Muhammad and his family were denied for "discretionary reasons."

Letter to Homeland Security by Kelsey O'Connor on Scribd

The letter addressed to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen asks for two actions. First, within 15 days to disclose to Congress the discretionary information used to deny Muhammad's case.

Secondly, the letter requests that within 30 days, USCIS provide data on "(a) how many principal applicants for refugee cases have been Afghan and Iraqi US military interpreters or former interpreters; (b) how many of those were denied for discretionary security reasons; and (c) what percentage of US refugee applications overall have been denied for discretionary security reasons."

The letter was sponsored by Congressmen Jeff Denham, R-CA, and Jamie Raskin, D-MD.

“As a veteran who served overseas, I’ve seen the sacrifices people like Muhammad make to help our forces," Denham said in a statement. "Muhammad and his family lost everything to support our troops in Afghanistan, and he, his wife and his four young daughters are currently in critical danger from the same terrorists we asked him to fight. The United States of America must keep its promises to those who risk their lives in defense of this nation and support of our troops.”

Local Congressman Tom Reed, R-NY, has also signed the letter. He met Perano in May after a town hall event in Enfield.

“We care about Mr. Kamran’s service to our country and want to ensure he has a fair shot at seeking asylum. We became aware of Mr. Kamran’s application denial at a town hall and made it a priority to work with members on both sides of the aisle to sort things out. We need to know exactly why government bureaucrats rejected his application and how many people are stuck in the same situation,” Reed said.

So far, USCIS has been responsive to the letter and indicated that they are working on providing the information Congress requested.

The letter is just one small step forward. When they receive a response, Congress may be able to share the information. If it’s classified, they won’t be able to share it, Perano said.

“I think both of the leaders (Denham and Raskin) and their staff really care about saving the family,” Perano said. “I’m hopeful they’ll do the appropriate follow up.”

Depending on what information comes back, a next-phase letter may follow this one. But Perano said she is hopeful that USCIS has enough pressure now -- between the public attention and the letter from Congress -- to reopen Muhammad’s case.

Navigating the legal steps to get Muhammad and his family to the U.S. has been anything but easy, but Perano said they have to keep going.

“Although I remain very concerned about Muhammad and his family’s safety, I am hopeful that with Congress’s support for the case, USCIS will reconsider soon. Even the White House recently said that they support the SIV program for US military interpreters. So I don’t think the Trump Administration will want to fight with Congress to keep out an immigrant they say they want in," Perano said. "And USCIS’s position that a military hero who was trusted by military commanders and directly saved American lives is actually a security concern is indefensible. It’s even more absurd to claim that Muhammad’s young daughters are a security concern. So I am confident that if Congress remains engaged, USCIS will do the right thing and let Muhammad and his family come to safety soon.”

A response to the letter is due by Aug. 20.

Featured image: Muhammad instructs his daughters in their home. (Provided by Kristy Perano)