A
man behind a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the U.S. Embassy in
the Dominican Republic chained himself to the building’s fence in
protest on Tuesday, claiming that a botched DNA test led officials to
wrongly deny his daughter American citizenship while also ruining his
marriage.
Miguel
Familia, a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Dominican Republic,
alleged that a DNA test ordered by the embassy to prove the girl was his
daughter came back negative and she was denied residency in 2005.
After
he received the test results, Familia divorced his wife and accused her
of having an extramarital affair, according to his lawyer, Carlos de la
Rosa.
But
for years his ex-wife continued to insist the girl was his daughter.
That led Familia to seek two separate paternity tests on his own earlier
this year and both tested positive, de la Rosa said.
By
protesting outside the embassy, Familia was attempting to draw
attention to his legal case and the mistake that he blames for tearing
his family apart. He filed a complaint in the Dominican Republic in July
against the embassy and a U.S.-based laboratory, seeking $180 million
in damages.
“They destroyed my family and I lost seven years with her,” he said of his daughter, Ashley.
A
U.S. Embassy spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit. Officials at
the DNA testing laboratory, Clinical Test & Research in Ridgewood,
New Jersey, could not be immediately reached for comment.
According
the U.S. State Department website, DNA tests can be required for
parents who are U.S. citizens seeking citizenship for their child where
it is not clear a birth certificate is adequate proof showing a
biological relationship.
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