INS opposes citizenship for disabled woman who can't take oath

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has filed court documents formally opposing citizenship for a severely disabled 24-year-old woman who is unable to understand or take the oath of allegiance.

The agency in a brief filed June 16 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles said Vijai Rajan, who was born in India, should not be granted citizenship because she ''has failed to meet the statutory requirements of the oath of allegiance'' required for naturalization.

Rajan, who lives in Anaheim, Calif., suffers from cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and other ailments. She uses a wheelchair, needs 24-hour care and cannot understand, recite or even raise her hand to take the oath.

Rajan's father, Sunder Rajan, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1980, her mother in 1994. Rajan was born when her mother was visiting India, while the couple's older daughter was born in the United States.

The family sued the INS after Rajan was denied U.S. citizenship in 1998.

''I think that the INS is now admitting that they are engaging in discrimination,'' family attorney Philip Abramowitz said Thursday. ''But they believe their hands are tied by the law.''

Two private bills in Congress seek citizenship for Rajan.