POMONA – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer stepped out of his black SUV on Wednesday and eagerly greeted Nagurska Ducasse. She had recently regained her U.S. citizenship after a years-long struggle and returned to Rockland County with the help of the senator’s staff.
“Glad to have you back,” Schumer said as he greeted Nagurska and thanked her aunt, Daniela Ducasse of Haverstraw, the woman who enlisted Schumer’s help and fought document by document to have Nagurska’s U.S. citizenship recognized.
Born in Nyack, stuck in Haiti: Family finally wins battle to prove woman’s U.S. citizenship
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Schumer and the Ducasse family.
But Schumer and his staff were already intimately familiar with the family and Nagurska’s saga, which was first reported by the USA Today Network New York.
Schumer and Daniela Ducasse on Wednesday thanked the USA Today Network New York’s efforts to advocate for Nagurska’s story to be heard.
Years of work to prove citizenship
Nagurska Ducasse was born at Nyack Hospital in 1990 and baptized at St. Joseph Church in Spring Valley.
Nagurska was brought to Haiti by her mother when she was just two. She is now 34.
After the 2010 earthquake, she tried to return to the US for the first time. Although the U.S. government urged all citizens to leave Haiti, Nagurska was rebuffed.
Daniela, who Schumer aptly described as “indomitable,” took up the fight to have Nagurska’s citizenship recognized.
Despite document tracking, U.S. officials continued to reject attempts to prove Nagurska’s citizenship.
Within two weeks of Schumer’s office becoming involved, Daniela Ducasse said, Nagurska made the dangerous but necessary trip to Port-au-Prince and the U.S. Embassy.
Within days, an American passport was ready to be issued.
Others born in the U.S. are stuck in Haiti
Haiti remains under a U.S. State Department-issued Level 4 “Do Not Travel” alert, the highest level assigned to places with life-threatening risks.
Schumer noted the dangerous conditions Nagurska endured.
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Rockland County has the second largest Haitian diaspora per capita in the US. More than a quarter of Spring Valley residents who list one specific ethnicity on Census forms declare themselves Haitian, according to the Rockland County Planning Department.
Schumer acknowledged Daniela Ducasse’s pledge to help the many other families who contacted her saying a family member was in similar circumstances. “This is what makes our Haitian community in this country so beautiful and strong.”
Nagurska is adjusting to a new life in the US and plans to bring her children and husband here as soon as possible. She has also taken an important step as an American citizen: Nagurska Ducasse is now a registered voter.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Nyack, New York-born woman stuck in Haiti meets Schumer, who helped her return
