Immigration: A Matter of the Heart
BHITC’s IMMIGRATION LEGAL SERVICES TEAM REUNIFIES FAMILIES
Immigration is a topic that sparks many opinions these days. But, beyond many of the news headlines, it’s a subject often powered by things we all care for most: family, love and hope.
That’s the driving story at The Hope Center’s immigration department, Immigrant Legal Services (ILS), where attorney Nick Tribuzzo and his team provide excellent, accessible and low-cost immigration services. While a large part of the team’s work is naturalization — helping immigrants achieve US citizenship — another critical aspect of ILS helps reunify family members who have been painfully separated from loved ones during the immigration process.
What would it mean for you to be involuntarily separated from your family for years? That’s a reality for many who seek assistance from ILS. Such family separations are common and happen due to immigration policies in other countries, differing legal status among family members, documentation issues, or circumstances that unfold during conflict.
When Moni Rizal and his seven family members came to the US as refugees in 2008 he was just 16 years old. They had already witnessed firsthand the evils of ethnic discrimination and forced displacement. Moni’s family were of Nepali ethnic origin. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Nepalis migrated to the neighboring country of Bhutan, which encouraged this migration to help cultivate and populate Bhutanese territories.
In the 1980s, a new Bhutanese King ascended to power and began discriminating against Nepalis who had peacefully raised their families in Bhutan for generations. New laws required documents verifying citizenship — documents Nepalis could not produce. As a result, they were declared illegal criminals. Mass arrests and military crackdowns soon followed. Moni’s family, along with 100,000+ others, were forcibly evicted or fled back to Nepal, where they were granted refugee status.
The resettlement process temporarily split Moni’s family apart, but they were eventually reunited in the United States, in Maryland. Soon afterward, they relocated to Erie, Pennsylvania to be near other extended family members. Along the way, Moni became a US citizen in 2013. And, in 2014, the extended family relocated again to Cleveland to be near Moni’s maternal grandparents. Such is the gravitational pull of love and family regardless of culture, nationality or geography.
But, for Moni there was a bigger reunification still to take place: the woman he intended to be his wife, Muna Bhattarai. A Nepali citizen whose family never migrated to Bhutan, Muna’s immigration process would look very different from traditional refugees. To aid him in his goal to marry, Moni found himself at The Hope Center in 2018 at the urging of his parents, who were students in ESL classes.
Nick had just begun working for BHITC months prior; Moni would be his first family reunification case. “Moni brought pictures of Muna with him to his meeting with me,” recalls Nick. “He was incredibly organized through the whole process and told me stories of having just returned from Nepal after the engagement ceremony.”
Moni recalls, “Muna had 16 aunts and uncles who questioned me during that trip. It was not 100% guaranteed they would say yes to the marriage, but in the end, I passed!”
Eight months later in 2019, the complex reunification process was completed. Muna arrived in Cleveland in August 2019. Less than a week later the couple were married before a judge. A private cultural ceremony followed on September 8, 2019.
Over the years, Nick and BHITC’s Geeta Sharma, an Accredited Representative of the Department of Justice, have assisted Muna with other filings, including Muna’s naturalization.
Today, Moni and Muna are proud Cleveland homeowners and parents to twin boys: Aarnav and Pranav Rizal, born in 2022. Muna works at Amazon, while Moni continues to flourish in his work as a card dealer at Jack Casino. An aptitude for math and an ability to interact with customers has served him well.
What’s his advice if you’re heading to the casino? “Don’t think you’re going to win today, “ he laughs. “It’s probably not going to happen. If you win, have fun and enjoy it. And, remember, the longer you stay at the casino, the more likely you are to lose.“
As for the Moni and Muna, they are continuing to place their bets on one of life’s surest things: family. They are still working with Nick and the ILS team on reunification processes to bring members of Muna’s family to Cleveland. Nick estimates that process will still take another couple of years.
“I want my kids to go to good schools and get a good education,” says Moni. “I want them to have a better life. It will help them go where they want and to do what they want. That would be a good life for my family.”
