A federal immigration judge has granted asylum to a woman orphaned in Iran in the 1970s and adopted by an American war veteran, who immigration officials threatened earlier this year with deportation to the country with which the U.S. is now at war.

Background

The woman, 56, has lived in the United States since she was adopted by American parents as a toddler and has no criminal record. She grew up in a Christian, military family on a farm in Wisconsin and was taught to be patriotic.

She received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security in February that ordered her to appear for removal proceedings, saying she is eligible for deportation because she overstayed her visa in March 1974 at 4 years old. Her lawyer, Emily Howe, said the government had the power to agree she is an American citizen.

Instead, they treated her like a terrorist, like she was the worst of the worst criminals, Howe said. It felt very Big Brother, very Orwellian.

Ruling

Judge Andrew Fishkin’s ruling likely ends a monthslong ordeal for the California woman, one of thousands adopted from abroad who were never granted citizenship because of bureaucratic loopholes between adoption and immigration law.

Fishkin seemed to agree: he wrote in his ruling that documents from the US Embassy in Tehran are not available to her or to the US government. He declared her a refugee, entitled to work in the US. His ruling puts the woman on a pathway to being recognized as a citizen.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.