Legal Help for Quasim Yar Mohammad
Donation protected
My name is Josee Perez. I am a forever foster parent to two very special boys that I took into my home and heart when they arrived as unaccompanied minors sponsored by Lutheran Community Services, where they became part of their Foster- Refugee Program.
I have no words or adjectives to describe the unspeakable, horrible traumas of these individuals, much less that of my two boys. Their home was bombed during a time of no infra-structure, during a power vacuum after the Soviets left Afghanistan. Their home was bombed and all the adults perished. The two boys having no other anchors, escaped to another inhospitable environment, to Pakistan.
The boys were seven and four. The boys were uneasy staying at a refugee camp. The older brother, took on the role of surrogate parent to the younger brother Quasim; he soon went out searching for work in a marble factory doing child labor for a bed in a corner of the shop. The young brother was left to his own recourse being out all day and it could be said that he was a bit feral when he came to live with me and my family.
I was their teacher when I met them; they were twelve and fifteen. They had no documents of birth, it is not sure their birth dates, but the State Department claimed December 30th as a birthday date for both boys and guesstimated their current ages.
I had an interpreter working with me in my classroom, and she stated something the boys confided in her. The boys were in an abusive foster family and in a dangerous part of Seattle, with frequent police interventions to the home. The boys were living in fear and they stated their foster family never cooked for them or took them to buy food. I quickly intervened and the rest is history; they became my boys.
The need for mental health services was needed, but the boys resisted any of my efforts to get them help, as they were confused and fearful that it meant that they were crazy and they shut down all of their history out of fear.
The boys were unschooled, they had no idea how to hold a pencil. Their survival behaviors served them well in their past life, but it was maladaptive to this culture and it inevitably became the biggest challenge with the younger brother who raked up many infractions with the law; much of those were reckless behaviors, as he did not pose any danger to society, but he was perceived as such.
I demanded a thorough mental health and neuro-psychological evaluation and sure enough, Quasim has: Severe PTSD, Mood Dysregulation with possibly Bi-Polar, Major Depressive Disorder, and Cognitive disability. Based on these diagnoses, Quasim went untreated for years which explains much of his behaviors, before going on medication.
Sadly, I now reach out to ask for help. Quasim, the younger brother just finished serving time in jail; he had a DV incident with a woman who was herself unstable and both partook of being abusive, however, her advantage is that she spoke English intelligently and made sure that my little foster boy spent time in jail; our advocating fiercely had no impact. Quasim states that in jail, he was not treated consistently with his mental health needs. He is also HIV positive due to a time period when he succumbed to addictive behaviors and partook of substances.
While in jail, my son lost his Green Card Status. Now he has ended his prison sentence and is being held at the Tacoma Detention Center. With our current immigration climate in this country, and my son being a Muslim and with his past record, holds a very uncertain future. Should our government deport my son, he will face an immediate death sentence without proper medical care for HIV and the mental health care he needs. In Afghanistan; in fact, he told me he could get killed if it is known that he has lived in America for the last thirteen to fourteen years, which makes him an American in my book.
I cannot afford a good criminal/immigration attorney. We did reach out to all advocacy and pro bono venues but they are back logged and it may be too late by the time they reach my son’s case. I just recently retired and my older foster son lost his job at Costco due to a serious back injury so he is currently unemployed. We were quoted $250 to $300 dollars an hour from a couple of Immigration Lawyers. We need to act fast ;time is not in my son’s favor.
We are raising money to support Quasim's legal fees to try and prevent his deportation. We request any contributions that you can make. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Josee Perez
former foster parent of Quasim Yar Mohammed
Below is a photo of our family and a photo of my two sons a couple years after they came to live with us. Quasim is on the right.
I have no words or adjectives to describe the unspeakable, horrible traumas of these individuals, much less that of my two boys. Their home was bombed during a time of no infra-structure, during a power vacuum after the Soviets left Afghanistan. Their home was bombed and all the adults perished. The two boys having no other anchors, escaped to another inhospitable environment, to Pakistan.
The boys were seven and four. The boys were uneasy staying at a refugee camp. The older brother, took on the role of surrogate parent to the younger brother Quasim; he soon went out searching for work in a marble factory doing child labor for a bed in a corner of the shop. The young brother was left to his own recourse being out all day and it could be said that he was a bit feral when he came to live with me and my family.
I was their teacher when I met them; they were twelve and fifteen. They had no documents of birth, it is not sure their birth dates, but the State Department claimed December 30th as a birthday date for both boys and guesstimated their current ages.
I had an interpreter working with me in my classroom, and she stated something the boys confided in her. The boys were in an abusive foster family and in a dangerous part of Seattle, with frequent police interventions to the home. The boys were living in fear and they stated their foster family never cooked for them or took them to buy food. I quickly intervened and the rest is history; they became my boys.
The need for mental health services was needed, but the boys resisted any of my efforts to get them help, as they were confused and fearful that it meant that they were crazy and they shut down all of their history out of fear.
The boys were unschooled, they had no idea how to hold a pencil. Their survival behaviors served them well in their past life, but it was maladaptive to this culture and it inevitably became the biggest challenge with the younger brother who raked up many infractions with the law; much of those were reckless behaviors, as he did not pose any danger to society, but he was perceived as such.
I demanded a thorough mental health and neuro-psychological evaluation and sure enough, Quasim has: Severe PTSD, Mood Dysregulation with possibly Bi-Polar, Major Depressive Disorder, and Cognitive disability. Based on these diagnoses, Quasim went untreated for years which explains much of his behaviors, before going on medication.
Sadly, I now reach out to ask for help. Quasim, the younger brother just finished serving time in jail; he had a DV incident with a woman who was herself unstable and both partook of being abusive, however, her advantage is that she spoke English intelligently and made sure that my little foster boy spent time in jail; our advocating fiercely had no impact. Quasim states that in jail, he was not treated consistently with his mental health needs. He is also HIV positive due to a time period when he succumbed to addictive behaviors and partook of substances.
While in jail, my son lost his Green Card Status. Now he has ended his prison sentence and is being held at the Tacoma Detention Center. With our current immigration climate in this country, and my son being a Muslim and with his past record, holds a very uncertain future. Should our government deport my son, he will face an immediate death sentence without proper medical care for HIV and the mental health care he needs. In Afghanistan; in fact, he told me he could get killed if it is known that he has lived in America for the last thirteen to fourteen years, which makes him an American in my book.
I cannot afford a good criminal/immigration attorney. We did reach out to all advocacy and pro bono venues but they are back logged and it may be too late by the time they reach my son’s case. I just recently retired and my older foster son lost his job at Costco due to a serious back injury so he is currently unemployed. We were quoted $250 to $300 dollars an hour from a couple of Immigration Lawyers. We need to act fast ;time is not in my son’s favor.
We are raising money to support Quasim's legal fees to try and prevent his deportation. We request any contributions that you can make. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Josee Perez
former foster parent of Quasim Yar Mohammed
Below is a photo of our family and a photo of my two sons a couple years after they came to live with us. Quasim is on the right.
Organizer and beneficiary
Josee Perez
Organizer
Bothell, WA
Azeem Yarmohammad
Beneficiary
