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May 29, 2009 10:44 pm US/Central
Family Fights To Get Mother Out Of Pakistan
(WCCO)
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Naseem is catholic and lives in Rawalpindi, Pakistan with three other single women. Her family believes that makes her a target for Islamic extremists.
CBS
A Somerset, Wis. family wants to know why it's taken more than a year to get their mother to the United States from Pakistan.
Naseem Francis has been away from her family for 14 months, ever since her husband was forced to leave Pakistan without her. As attacks in that country increase, her family says it isn't safe for her to stay there alone.
Jessica met Bernard Francis studying in Pakistan. After eight years of marriage, two children and another on the way, they thought both of Bernard's parents would leave Pakistan to be a part of their life in the U.S. They even built their home so both families could live in it.
"For a long time I was saying 'today could be the day.' I don't think I've said that for a while now," Jessica said.
Bernard's parents, Saleem and Naseem, applied for visas nearly two years ago. His father, Saleem, was almost immediately approved. He was forced to leave his wife in Pakistan, or his paperwork would've expired. After 38 years of marriage, he hasn't seen Naseem in 14 months.
"It has been tough. I've always been thinking about her," Saleem said.
Naseem lives in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. It's the same city where Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. Naseem lives with three other single women and is Catholic. Her family believes that makes her more of a target for Islamic extremists.
"Especially as things have gotten more and more perilous in Pakistan. We can't accept that anymore," Jessica said.
That's why they've gone door-to-door to get signatures for a petition and taken their fight online atÂ
SaveNaseem.com to get lawmakers' attention.
The Francis family has been told the problem is that Naseem doesn't have a last name and her first name is very common, so it's more difficult to move her through.
WCCO-TV contacted Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, who is working on this case. His office couldn't tell WCCO what was going on, but a spokesperson told the Francis family it's been the longest wait the office has seen for a visa.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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