Sunday, September 14, 2014

A little can do a lot

Thank you for volunteering to take part in helping to save the life of Hematullah Aziz (Hemi). 

I am grateful for having had the experience to share Hemi's story with you today. Hemi has served as an interpreter for US forces for almost a decade. Most recently, he has served with US Army Green Berets. He has spent nearly the past ten years as an interpreter, taking a stand against the Taliban. His work supporting US Forces has caused his life to be in danger. We need your help to get him to safety. Below are three simple steps to help bring him to the United States. Please forward to any friends who would be willing to help. I will be sending more information about other ways to help in the coming weeks.

Step 1: Click this link and complete the form. This form will keep us informed on which Representative you will be contacting. This is crucial as we continue refining our strategy.

Step 2: Call the office of your representative. Ask to speak to the staffer who is responsible for submitting "Official Inquiries" for refugee issues or Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) issues. You will need this individual's e-mail address and a copy of their Privacy Act Release Form to send them all required information. I suggest asking the staffer to e-mail their Office's unique Privacy Act Release form.

Step 3: Send the e-mail to the staffer responsible for refugee and SIV issues. The e-mail should contain the following. Note you will need to modify the e-mail and the official letter.

A. Subject and e-mail contents should provide an overview. (Click here for basic text to submit)

B. The unique Privacy Act Release Form for our Representative. The completion of this form means that you are officially requesting an inquiry on Hemi's behalf. (click here to download an example). There will be a block for comments. Often this block is called "Statement of Problem". Cut and paste the following paragraph.

"I am requesting two official inquiries on behalf of Hematullah Aziz, an Afghan Interpreter. He applied for an SIV visa 5 years ago and has yet to receive his visa. Hemi is a high profile target for the Taliban due to his service working for US Army Special Forces. With US forces departing Afghanistan in the next few months, his life is in danger. Please send an official inquiry to The Directory of National Intelligence inquiring on the status of his case. Additionally, send an official inquiry on the actual visa application. ATTACHED are his documents and other key information to help you make the inquiry."

C. Official Letter to the Representative. This letter needs to be from you, to your Representative. You will need to change the addresses and names. (Click here to receive the pre-formatted file)

D. Hemi's two visa requests documents (File 1 andFile 2). 

Please let me know via e-mail when you have sent the request and when you receive a response. This is needed so I can track the progress. If you have further questions please see this Congressional Inquiries Cheat Sheet. If you have further questions please call, text, or e-mail. I have already completed this process with one Representative and two Senators. It will take many more to help Hemi.

Thank you for your help. Together we can make this possible.

Adam Malaty-Uhr
Special Studies Student 15'
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Cell: 630-841-5268
savehemi@gmail.com
agm365@mail.harvard.edu