CLCMA recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client, Mr. Hemza Menade Lefsih, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the denial of his application for naturalization to become a U.S. citizen. After five years of living and working legally in the United States as a lawful permanent resident, Mr. Lefsih applied for U.S. citizenship, which USCIS approved. Following the USCIS interview and approval, the government conducted a separate investigation including an unannounced in-person interview asking additional questions about the approved application. Unexpectedly, Mr. Lefsih was arrested based on this follow-up interview and charged with intentionally lying on his application and in the naturalization interview. This resulted in USCIS canceling his appointment for the oath ceremony, re-opening the approved naturalization application, issuing a notice that they would deny his application, and then actually denying his application without providing actual notice to Mr. Lefsih.
For years, Mr. Lefsih challenged this injustice while in federal custody during his district court trial, appeal, retrial, deportation proceedings and appeal of deportation. Mr. Lefsih has since been exonerated and acquitted on all charges, but his naturalization application remains denied. CLCMA is representing him in the fight to obtain U.S. citizenship that was unfairly denied. The lawsuit alleges that the government committed many injustices against Mr. Lefsih, including violations of Mr. Lefsih’s constitutional right to due process and violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
CLCMA is committed to defending Mr. Lefsih’s constitutional rights, as well as the constitutional rights of all Muslim immigrants to ensure that legal wrongs such as these do not go unchallenged.
