Slain clerk had citizenship dream

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 8:53 a.m.

Tragically, one less citizen will be sworn in at the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse this year because he was shot dead last week while working at a Las Vegas convenience store.

Iraqi-born Bashar "Robert" Younan, who was killed June 24 during an apparent robbery at the Kwiky Mini Mart on E. Tropicana Avenue, had successfully completed his citizenship interview with immigration officials two weeks before he was shot.

The next step for Younan would have been for the federal government to conduct the background check required of all new citizens since Sept. 11, a process that can take from one to two months in the Las Vegas area, according to Sharon Rummery, spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Once the check is successfully completed, the courthouse ceremony is the last step in the process.

Younan had immigrated from Iraq in 1993 and deeply wanted be a U.S. citizen, said his second cousin, Thomas Kalandos.

"It was so important to him -- he came all the way here and was just trying to be a good person and show he could do his job and be a citizen," Kalandos said.

Kalandos said Younan hoped to petition for this parents to come live with him in Las Vegas after he became a citizen. They also left Iraq years ago and live in Australia, he said.

Kalandos became a citizen in 1998 after successfully seeking political asylyum in the United States, and his wife, Jinan Yousif, just passed the citizenship interview Wednesday.

"She's very happy," Kalandos said. "I used to joke with her that I'm going to send her back, and now she says, 'You can't, I'm an American."'

Kalandos said he is going to talk with other members of Younan's family about the possibility of obtaining the citizenship certificate for his second cousin from the federal government.

"I think it would be something great," he said.

"Especially for his parents to be able to say, 'Our son was an American.' "