Bosnian refugees become citizens in St. Louis after suing for the right

ST. LOUIS -- After nearly eight years in the United States, Bosnian war refugee Adila Palalija can finally call herself an American.

She is one of 34 Bosnians enjoying their first days as U.S. citizens after they sued over the matter.

The group had filed a federal lawsuit in St. Louis in March, claiming the government was unlawfully delaying their applications to become citizens. The roughly three dozen Bosnians became citizens Friday during a festive naturalization ceremony at Harris-Stowe State College in St. Louis. The case was dismissed in court the same day, as lawyers said the refugees had gotten the relief they'd been seeking.

"We're celebrating, yes," Palalija said Tuesday through a translator.

About 40,000 Bosnians settled in the St. Louis area in the 1990s, following the war in the former Yugoslavia.

They were asked to wait five years before applying for citizenship, said Ann Lever, litigation director for St. Louis-based Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.

Dozens sought waivers, claiming disabilities should excuse them from taking the citizenship test in English. The waiver requests were approved, but their applications toward citizenship stalled.

The disabilities ranged from war-related post-traumatic stress disorder to medical conditions, such as stroke. Each person provided certification of physical or mental impairments.

The lawsuit was resolved when the government reviewed the facts and decided they were eligible for naturalization and exempt from the civics and language requirement, Lever said.

She noted 35 Bosnians had been part of the lawsuit. One of them was not able to take the oath to become a citizen last week. That woman temporarily left the country because officials believed they may have found her husband's remains in Bosnia. She will become a citizen when she returns, Lever said.

Because it had taken so long to become a citizen, Palalija, 79, had gone for about a year without the benefit of a federal income supplement program she had relied on to help meet basic needs.

In July 1993 she lost a son, a soldier who was hit and killed by a grenade. Her other three sons live in the United States.