The first flight, the one that was carrying 14 of Boubacar Diakite’s children, arrived at JFK on Nov. 21. Diakite, a former political prisoner in the unstable West African nation of Guinea – and now a New York City taxi driver – had not seen his offspring since he came to the United States seeking asylum in 2013.
Weeks later, on Dec. 2, the 15th of Diakite’s 17 children, 10-year-old Ahmadou Bailo, also arrived. His trip was delayed due to a visa issue. Diakite now has three sets of twins living with him and his other offspring, whose ages range from 8 to 25, in two crowded apartments in a shelter in East New York, Brooklyn. Two more of his children – his youngest and oldest – remain in Guinea for now, due to complications of immigration. The mothers of his children remain in Guinea, one of the world’s poorest countries. He is divorced from one; the other, to whom he is married, is staying behind to watch over the family home, a necessary task in troubled times.
To get his children cleared to join him in the U.S., Diakite received considerable legal advice – and the encouragement he needed – from CUNY Citizenship Now!, the nation’s largest no-cost university immigration law service with six full-time centers and more than 45 part-time locations in all five city boroughs.
“The efforts of CUNY Citizenship Now! are immeasurable, and the unfolding of this extraordinary story is emblematic of CUNY’s mission to support the New York City immigrant community – and to help those who must flee injustice and cruelty find better lives here for themselves and their families,” said Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “I am so hopeful for Mr. Diakite and his family, and so proud of CUNY for its part in reuniting a father with his children.”
Diakite was living in the Bronx and had already applied to bring the first eight of his children here, when a friend who knew how determined he was to navigate the complicated process gave him the number of the CUNY Citizenship Now! office at Hostos Community College. There, he met Luz Medrano, who served as the supervising attorney on his case.
Medrano, herself the daughter of an immigrant father who came to the U.S. from El Salvador in the 1970s, is a 2005 graduate of the CUNY School of Law. In addition to her work with Citizenship Now!, she serves as an adjunct assistant professor at the CUNY School of Professional Studies, where she teaches students seeking an advanced certificate in immigration law.
“What I love about CUNY Citizenship Now!, is that we are a ‘pro se’ organization: You represent yourself,” said Medrano. “Mr. Diakite was motivated to help himself. And my job as an attorney in a pro se setting is to help people and empower them to help themselves. We want to help people figure out how to navigate the system.”
She says that Diakite still needs a good deal of support.
“How do you accommodate 15 people – and they are not all 5 years old, some are in their 20s?” said Medrano, who is helping the older children apply for work permits, working to enroll the younger children in New York City public schools and – with help from her administrative assistant – contacting charitable organizations to seek help for the family.
Diakate, 55, was granted asylum in 2018, five years after he arrived. U.S. law permits asylees to petition to bring their family members. He says that along with his great joy and relief – and the work he needs to do to get his nine sons and six daughters settled – he worries he will soon require better housing, more food and winter clothing for them. Diakite has regularly sent money home, saying that $500 a month went a long way in Guinea. He also paid for his children’s airfare to New York and arranged for them to receive their required vaccinations and COVID tests before their arrival.
Medrano praises Diakite’s determination. “He was always ready to meet me where I needed to be met,” she said. “He was always helpful in providing the paperwork and the information I needed.”
Diakite says that due to the political situation in Guinea, he feared for the safety of his children – and particularly now for those still there. Some have been harassed due to their father’s affiliation with an opposition party.
Diakite’s own story is all too familiar in the world of asylum seekers. To support his large family, he had worked as a salesman, traveling from Guinea to China, and back home again, to sell the goods he bought on his trips. But, as a member of the country’s major opposition party – UFDG, as Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée is known – he was imprisoned for a year in 2011.
After a brother raised money for his bail, Diakite went to the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Conakry to seek a visa. “I’ve never been to America. I want to see America,” is what he remembers saying, not knowing what words would work. Those, apparently did. He was given a visa and flew here to stay with an uncle in the Bronx. Years later, as is often the case, he was granted asylum.
Amnesty International has reported innumerable atrocities committed in years past in Guinea against UFDG members, such as inhumane imprisonment, mass rapes and unexplained disappearances. The country’s president was deposed by a ruthless military coup earlier this year, and the country continues to be beset by violence.
Diakite is relieved to have his children here, removed from the uncertainty they faced at home. He recounts the emotion he felt when he greeted them at the airport.
“I was very happy. I was scared, too, because some people told me don’t put them all on one flight.” It might be dangerous if there was an accident. What if so many siblings would not be permitted to enter the country at once? “But I trusted God,” he added. “If God liked [the idea of] them to come, nobody can stop them.”
CUNY Citizenship Now! is holding its next citizenship event on Dec. 18 at Hostos Community College in the Bronx, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. For information and to make an appointment, call 646-664-9400.
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