I have a refugee living in my home. I have several questions

In My Humble Opinion
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I considered Factual Questions, so if it needs to be moved, mods, please do.

TL;DR - There is a 19-year-old trans kid who escaped a torture camp in Kenya living with me, and we need to get their stuff established before ICE finds out and gets itchy.

So, my wife is an assistant principal at a charter school near Columbus, OH. About a year-and-a-half ago, one of her students simply stopped showing up for school. They had recently expressed gender dysphoria issues, and their conservative Muslim parents spirited them “home” to Somalia where they were sent to live in a re-education camp for a process called “dhaqan celis.” If you are interested in learning more about these places, the Guardian did an article about them in 2023, right around the time they were sent there.

After about a year-and-a-half in the detention center, they were permitted to move in with their aunt in Nairobi, where they were provided with a laptop, but no phone, and the computer was intended solely for religious study and schoolwork. However, they were savvy enough to blast out a few messages on a messaging app, and through many convoluted paths, managed to get in touch with my wife. The U.S. embassy became involved, since they are an American citizen, and with their assistance, this person is now here, in my home, for the moment totally safe and sound. The Embassy was able to get them away without the family knowing anything about it, procured airfare, gave them $50 and sent them on their way. (We were in near-constant contact with the embassy folk in Nairobi the entire time. They are WONDERFUL people. I can’t say enough good about them.)

They have an emergency passport which we are going to try to get extended, as it expires tomorrow. There are no other forms of ID available, and they don’t remember their SSN. Unfortunately, their number is also not present on their school transcript, so we feel rudderless in obtaining it.

To get a state ID, we need SSN, proof of residency, etc.

To get a checking account, need SSN, but that creates proof of residency.

I have some immigration attorneys cued up, but I thought I might reach out to my fellow Dopers to see if anyone has any tips, tricks, or other what-have-yous they may offer from experience, education, or otherwise. I am EXTREMELY hesitant to divulge too much to local authorities, given Ohio is blood red, at this point, but I also don’t want to wait around.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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So the new option has to exclude use of a SSN and proof of citizenship, it sounds like? Have you talked with the right type of attorney; it wouldn’t be an immigration lawyer, right?

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I meant ‘no proof of residency’ so do apologize. This is really a tough situation and I really feel the person here.

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So, it looks like we can get an updated passport. That’s a start.

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From a prior search for unrelated reasons…

With proper ID you can get a replacement social security card, even if you do not know your social security number. A valid passport should be all you need. You will have to make an appointment and visit a social security office.

If they can get an official copy of their birth certificate, that would be useful, too. (I’m assuming this is a US born citizen of immigrant parents.) That can usually be obtained from the state, county, or city where they were born, and you will have to contact the appropriate records department to find out the exact process.

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That’s a nightmarish situation described in the article! Kudos to you and your wife on getting this kid out of there.
I know that they have US citizenship so technically aren’t an immigrant, but I wonder whether either of these organizations might be able to help?
Refugee Services

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Asking for advice and opinions is better suited for IMHO. I will be moving it for you.

Of course you understand the replies will only be opinions and you should seek out a professional to get answers.

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My guess would be if an immigration attorney isn’t the best choice they would at least know where to start. It’s at least immigration adjacent.

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Thank you. This is my first foray into this sort of thing.

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BTW, good on you and your wife!

A SSN or birth certificate was required for the passport. So, I would assume the passport office would have those records.

WARNING: The US State Department does passports. I can say with personal knowledge that the passport office denied my trans son’s gender and name request on his certificate of birth abroad (equivalent of a birth certificate for children born in foreign countries with at least one US citizen parent). We applied to change the cert of birth abroad in December 2024 for 5 copies, and in late Feb received back 5 new copies with the original birth name and gender.

It is not a stretch to be wary that the State Department might take a request for the original birth certificate and/or SSN and decide that INS should have that information. I am not a lawyer, but probably a request for a passport extension/new passport is routine and won’t raise any flags.

Does the kid remember what state and city he was born in? I haven’t done it for decades but a birth certificate used to be really easy to obtain from the local government records office. The passport, even expired one, should suffice if there is a need to show some kind of reason for the request. The records office is a local state or city office, and not part of the State Department.

Can the US Embassy in Nairobi offer any advice? They appear to have accepted his passport and facilitated his return to the US. Maybe they are a sympathetic audience? I would do it by phone and not any written record.