[raccoon-announce] NYTimes.com Article: Jailing Immigran

[Ivo Skoric]

Here is an enterpreneurial Montenegrin Albanian, father of an 
American child, fleeing persecution in his home country, who managed 
to open and run a succesful restaurant in Upstate NY, before getting 
all his immigration red tape in order. He gets pulled over for 
speeding in another State, and they arrest him for violation of his 
immigrant status, and keep him in jail for NINE (9) months now. 
That's a long stretch. Particularly, because it is not exactly clear 
where did he wronged himself against the immigration laws after he 
paid the $1000 penalty to the INS. Where is the moral compass behind 
the post-9/11 legislation in the U.S.? What kind of values does such 
arrest protect?

ivo


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Subject:        	[raccoon-announce] NYTimes.com Article: Jailing Immigrants
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> Jailing Immigrants
> 
> August 4, 2003
>  By BOB HERBERT 
 
> 
> CONGERS, N.Y. - The Al Laghetto Restaurant on Route
> 9W is a well-regarded family operation that until
recently was run by Elizabeta Markvukaj, her fiancé,
Vaso Nikpreljevic, and his brother Mario. 
> 
> Ms. Markvukaj is a friendly, formidable woman from
> Albania who carries with her the disturbing memories
of her years in a Communist internment camp. Vaso,
Mario and other members of the close-knit Nikpreljevic
clan settled in the U.S. after fleeing Montenegro in
the 1990's. 
> 
> After the violence, hatreds and atrocities they
> witnessed in their homelands, these refugees had
managed to knit together a life in quiet upstate
Rockland County that seemed very good indeed.
Elizabeta and Vaso had a baby girl 18 months ago and
were making plans for their wedding. They belonged to
a local church, paid their taxes promptly, 
contributed to charity and participated in Sept. 11 
relief efforts. 
> 
> It's hard to imagine a family that is less of a 
threat to the peace and well-being of the United
States. And yet everything the family has worked
toward is unraveling. 
> 
> On Nov. 30, 2002, Mr. Nikpreljevic was pulled over
> for speeding on the Connecticut Turnpike. A computer
> check revealed that his immigration papers were not
in order. A nightmare scenario ensued. He was
handcuffed and arrested, and has not been out of
custody since. The government has ordered him
deported. And under current law he would be
> barred from any realistic chance of returning. 
> 
> "He hasn't done anything wrong," said Ms. Markvukaj.
> Tears streamed down her face during an interview on
a
> large, covered patio behind the restaurant. She
described how she took the baby, Nina, to visit Vaso
in prison ("She recognized him!"), how business has
fallen off in the restaurant and how the family is
fighting with everything it has to block Vaso's
deportation. 
> 
> Mr. Nikpreljevic's immigration history is
> complicated. His lawyers, Theodore Cox and Joshua
Bardavid, said that back in the early-90's when he
first came to the U.S., Mr. Nikpreljevic's mother
submitted a petition on his behalf requesting
authorization to apply for a green card. That
> petition was approved. But Mr. Nikpreljevic 
submitted a request for asylum. That was denied and he
was deported. 
> 
> He returned to the U.S. illegally, through Canada.
> But, according to the lawyers, he paid a $1,000
penalty and was permitted to apply for a green card
and remain in the U.S. pending a decision on his
application. 
> 
> As he had never been in trouble, and his relatives
> and fiancée had all been able to secure citizenship
or permanent residency status, he did not anticipate a
> problem. 
> 
> But times (and the treatment of immigrants) have
> changed since Sept. 11. After his arrest in
Connecticut, Mr. Nikpreljevic was told that his
application had been "terminated." No reason was
given, his lawyers said. Mr. Nikpreljevic has been
held in a number of prisons in Connecticut and
Massachusetts since then, the latest being the Osborn
Correctional Institution in Somers, Conn.
> 
> 
> When he is being moved from one prison to another,
his family said, officials just show up in the middle
of the night and take him away - a very frightening
> procedure. Thousands of men and women, many of them
completely innocent, are ensnared in this system,
which is fundamentally uncaring and frequently cruel.
Many of the immigrants never even see an attorney. 
> 
> In Mr. Nikpreljevic's case, the lawyers have
> challenged the decision by immigration authorities
to "terminate" his application for permanent residency
status. If their effort is unsuccessful he will be
deported, and there is little doubt his family will be
devastated. 
> 
> Mr. Nikpreljevic and his relatives are exactly the
> kinds of productive individuals who help a society
to thrive. They have been a boon to their local
community and are assets to the U.S. as a whole. But
the law, especially in times of great fear, does not
always leave room for wise decisions. And where
immigrants are concerned, the system becomes more
> of a crapshoot than ever. 
> 
> So the extended family that is anchored by the Al
> Laghetto Restaurant is holding its collective
breath, hoping for a merciful ruling from the courts. 
> 
> The speeding charge, by the way, was dismissed. 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/04/opinion/04HERB.html?ex=1061026629&
> ei=1&en=726780c273989fde