Bid to Let Disabled Skip Citizenship Oath Advances

The U.S. Senate voted unanimously Friday to allow an Orange County woman and other severely disabled people to become citizens without taking the oath of allegiance.

Senate Bill 2812 will now be sent to the House for consideration. It would permit the attorney general to waive the oath requirement for a child or disabled person “who is unable to understand or communicate an understanding of the meaning of the oath.”

The bill was prompted by the case of 24-year-old Vijai Rajan of Anaheim, who was denied citizenship because her illnesses make it impossible for her to take the oath.

Rajan has cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, seizures and Crohn’s disease, a severe intestinal ailment.

The young woman, who uses a wheelchair and receives 24-hour care, cannot understand, recite or raise her hand to take the oath. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service rejected her citizenship application, saying she could not meet the requirements to become a citizen.

The Rajan family, who are citizens already, gained national attention for their daughter when they filed a federal discrimination lawsuit to try to force the INS to grant citizenship.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., sponsored the legislation. A separate bill to declare Rajan a citizen is still pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee.