nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
The first time she traveled to Eugene, Ore., Weini Kelati called her family and told them she was not coming home. Kelati, then 17, competed for Eritrea at the 2014 world junior track and field championships. She also resolved to make a new life for herself. When her return flight departed, Kelati made sure she was not on it.
On Thursday, Kelati boarded another flight to Eugene. This time, it was to compete Saturday at the U.S. Olympic trials. Three days after she became a U.S. citizen, Kelati intends to run 10,000 meters around an oval track and become a U.S. Olympian.
Kelati’s path began with a daring decision and wrenching sacrifice. It continued in suburban Virginia, where she settled with a relative and became a cross-country star, and in college at New Mexico, where she made 13 All-America teams. And her opportunity Saturday happened only after a bureaucratic tangle shook loose at the last minute with help from a U.S. senator and the country’s top badminton official, who also happens to be a renowned immigration lawyer.
For years, the question of when Kelati would become a citizen did not appear relevant to her Olympic pursuits. She would become eligible Feb. 16, 2021, which meant the Tokyo Games weren’t possible. When the pandemic postponed the Olympics by a year, Kelati had a chance to compete for the United States earlier than expected.
Lawyer Jonathan Little started working with Kelati through New Mexico Coach Joe Franklin. Franklin had coached at Butler in the 2000s when Little ran for Indiana. “We drank a lot of beer with Butler guys,” said Little, who competed at the 2008 U.S. trials.
Little anticipated Kelati’s citizenship process would be simple. They started working in late 2019, which should have provided more than enough time. The only thing Little mentioned was that becoming a citizen would prevent her from trying to represent another country in the Games.
“She absolutely didn’t care,” Little said. “She was going to compete for the United States or nobody.”
As February elapsed and March wore on, Kelati received no notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Little started to wonder what had happened. When he contacted the Albuquerque office of USCIS, he figured it out.
“The only piece we were missing were these damn fingerprints,” Little said.
As much as the local office tried to help, Little struggled to reach anyone in Washington, where USCIS has dealt with a backlog owing to two forces. The pandemic prevented large groups of people seeking citizenship from taking tests and oaths in one room, as had been the norm. More damaging, in Little’s view, is how the Trump administration had changed USCIS.
“The bottom line is, they decimated the infrastructure of USCIS the last four years,” said Little, who said he ran into similar head winds recently for other clients eligible for citizenship. “Before, this would have been really pretty easy to do. But over the last four, five years, they’ve just gutted USCIS.”
Little called everyone he could think of. In April, he enlisted Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who helped facilitate the processing of Kelati’s biometrics at the Albuquerque USCIS office.
“Weini is a valued member of the New Mexico community and an inspiration for our young people,” Luján said in an email. “I’m proud that my office played a small part in helping Weini navigate the naturalization process and take part in this hard-fought milestone.”
Just in time, Kelati’s fingerprints made it to the right place and her approval was stamped. Little is still not certain who among himself, Luján, French and the Albuquerque USCIS office made the crucial contact or which party on the other end finally solved the glitch.
“To be honest,” Little said, “I’m not even sure how we achieved it.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Kelati went to take her citizenship test. About two hours later, she sent Little a text message. It was a photograph of her posing in front of an American flag, beaming.
“I always told them, ‘One day, I’ll be at the Olympics to represent the United States,’ ” Kelati said. “I’m so excited to represent my people. I would like to say, thank you so much for your support and making me feel loved.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...itizenship-10000-meters-olympic-track-trials/
On Thursday, Kelati boarded another flight to Eugene. This time, it was to compete Saturday at the U.S. Olympic trials. Three days after she became a U.S. citizen, Kelati intends to run 10,000 meters around an oval track and become a U.S. Olympian.
Kelati’s path began with a daring decision and wrenching sacrifice. It continued in suburban Virginia, where she settled with a relative and became a cross-country star, and in college at New Mexico, where she made 13 All-America teams. And her opportunity Saturday happened only after a bureaucratic tangle shook loose at the last minute with help from a U.S. senator and the country’s top badminton official, who also happens to be a renowned immigration lawyer.
For years, the question of when Kelati would become a citizen did not appear relevant to her Olympic pursuits. She would become eligible Feb. 16, 2021, which meant the Tokyo Games weren’t possible. When the pandemic postponed the Olympics by a year, Kelati had a chance to compete for the United States earlier than expected.
Lawyer Jonathan Little started working with Kelati through New Mexico Coach Joe Franklin. Franklin had coached at Butler in the 2000s when Little ran for Indiana. “We drank a lot of beer with Butler guys,” said Little, who competed at the 2008 U.S. trials.
Little anticipated Kelati’s citizenship process would be simple. They started working in late 2019, which should have provided more than enough time. The only thing Little mentioned was that becoming a citizen would prevent her from trying to represent another country in the Games.
“She absolutely didn’t care,” Little said. “She was going to compete for the United States or nobody.”
As February elapsed and March wore on, Kelati received no notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Little started to wonder what had happened. When he contacted the Albuquerque office of USCIS, he figured it out.
“The only piece we were missing were these damn fingerprints,” Little said.
As much as the local office tried to help, Little struggled to reach anyone in Washington, where USCIS has dealt with a backlog owing to two forces. The pandemic prevented large groups of people seeking citizenship from taking tests and oaths in one room, as had been the norm. More damaging, in Little’s view, is how the Trump administration had changed USCIS.
“The bottom line is, they decimated the infrastructure of USCIS the last four years,” said Little, who said he ran into similar head winds recently for other clients eligible for citizenship. “Before, this would have been really pretty easy to do. But over the last four, five years, they’ve just gutted USCIS.”
Little called everyone he could think of. In April, he enlisted Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), who helped facilitate the processing of Kelati’s biometrics at the Albuquerque USCIS office.
“Weini is a valued member of the New Mexico community and an inspiration for our young people,” Luján said in an email. “I’m proud that my office played a small part in helping Weini navigate the naturalization process and take part in this hard-fought milestone.”
Just in time, Kelati’s fingerprints made it to the right place and her approval was stamped. Little is still not certain who among himself, Luján, French and the Albuquerque USCIS office made the crucial contact or which party on the other end finally solved the glitch.
“To be honest,” Little said, “I’m not even sure how we achieved it.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Kelati went to take her citizenship test. About two hours later, she sent Little a text message. It was a photograph of her posing in front of an American flag, beaming.
“I always told them, ‘One day, I’ll be at the Olympics to represent the United States,’ ” Kelati said. “I’m so excited to represent my people. I would like to say, thank you so much for your support and making me feel loved.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...itizenship-10000-meters-olympic-track-trials/
Last edited:
