Thread: MN-Missed court date, Minneapolis woman faces deportation

Missed court date, Minneapolis woman faces deportation

Hoa Nguyen, of Minneapolis, is in jail, set to be sent back to Vietnam despite being married to a U.S. citizen.

By JENNA ROSS, Star Tribune

Last update: September 26, 2009 - 10:21 PM



When Hoa Nguyen was shackled and jailed for failing to make an immigration hearing last month, she presented her reason to stay: Dan Hanson, her Illinois-born husband.

"I went down there [to jail] and thought, 'OK. Here I am. I'm her U.S.-citizen husband,'" Hanson said. "What can we do to make this right?"

Apparently, not much.

Nguyen, 29, came here from Vietnam on a student visa 10 years ago, earned a bachelor's degree at Luther College and a master's degree at the University of Minnesota, got married and made a life in Minneapolis. But she failed to file for a green card and missed a court date in August; she was jailed in Sherburne County.

Last week, an immigration judge denied Nguyen's motion to re-open her case, noting that her arguments did not constitute the "exceptional circumstances" needed to grant the motion. She now faces deportation, possibly within the next two weeks.

Her husband, friends, roommates and family are making the case online and in letters to elected officials that deporting Nguyen for one to five years would be an overreaction to what amounts to a paperwork problem.

"Part of the faith we're supposed to have in our system is that you're given the opportunity to right your wrongs," Hanson said. "And our wrongs, in this case, are not criminal. They're not violent. They're not malicious. They're clerical. And we're sorry."

Officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency could not be reached Saturday for comment.

Nguyen and Hanson met at Luther College in Iowa and begin dating after graduating in 2003. They married in November, then traveled to Vietnam early this year to marry there as well.

When they returned in February, Nguyen was stopped at the airport by immigration officers, who told her there was an issue with her status as a student.

Nguyen had enrolled as a Ph.D. student in French literature but was taking a break, Hanson said. They didn't know she no longer qualified as a student. The fact that the pair had gotten married further complicated things.

"If you're on a student visa, your intent is to be here and leave," Hanson said. "Once you get married to a U.S. citizen, they assume your intent is to immigrate."

He thought Nguyen was working to sort out the situation, according to his affidavit, and was unaware she had received a notice to appear in court on Aug. 13. The day after Nguyen missed the hearing, four immigration agents knocked on the door of their house in Uptown, where they live with fellow Luther grads, and took her away.

Friends have signed letters to elected officials, brainstormed ideas, updated a website (www.freehoa.org) and read Nguyen's notes from jail.

In one, addressed to her roommates ("Hello Colfax Ranchers") Nguyen sounds optimistic, despite her motion being denied: "I trust that you heard the latest from Dan, and while it's not the most pleasant of news, it puts a step behind us and a new one in front."

Some people have focused on the fact that, worst-case, Nguyen would spend several years with family members who love her in a safe country. That's true, Hanson said, but not the whole story.

"She'd live -- but how are we supposed to live," he said, his voice breaking. "We're almost 30. We want to have kids. If she's gone for the next six years, we could miss out on that opportunity. I don't think the fact that she's not going to die justifies this action."



http://www.startribune.com/local/619865 ... page=2&c=y

He thought Nguyen was working to sort out the situation, according to his affidavit, and was unaware she had received a notice to appear in court on Aug. 13. The day after Nguyen missed the hearing, four immigration agents knocked on the door of their house in Uptown, where they live with fellow Luther grads, and took her away.

Well, SHE is being deceptive about something! SHE received the notice and didn't tell her husband? Something ain't on the up and up here.

Yea, but Obama's illegal alien aunt can get her case re-opened.

Dixie

Dixie unfortunately the immigration system is very unfair. It depends who you are or what country you came from. I see it on a regular basis here in Miami. Haitians have worse poverty and living conditions and our government send them back. Cubans pay smugglers to bring them here by boat and they get to stay. A Canadian applies for citizenship over a month before a Colombian and the Colombian gets hers first even though she was arrested for a misdemeanor while the Canadian had no record. A restuarant owner hires one or two Canadians during the tourist season and they get caught quickly while Mexicans and Central Americans are allowed to work for months on end. Hiring either and paying cash is illegal but the Canadians are only breaking one law by working as they go back to Canada in the spring whereas the illegals stay year round.

Personally, I am tried of illegals from all countries coming here and getting a "free" ride via our tax dollars.

If we want our country to be strong we should allow only those people that come here legally and that are able to help us re- build rather than allowing arrogant third world illegals that break our laws and have the audacity to think we owe them something.

I remember even SW FL being swarmed by those who only spoke Spanish. That was one reason I left, only to find the same situation here in NC, except here I am running into folks of every nationality from across the world that barely speaks English, all with four or five kids. Legal or not, I don't know, but I am learning other languages rapidly just to be able to ask a question of someone.
And who says we can't deport the oft-quoted 12 million illegals? We figured out how to go to the moon and send shuttles to the space station, so why is this such a toughie? Too bad I cannot stipulate where my tax dollars go, because that would be priority #1!

I want ALL illegals OUT!

But it is interesting that a highly educated, married-to-a-citizen non-mexican gets the first ticket home while at the same time uneducated, unskilled. gang-rapist, drunk-driving, tax-cheat/paid-under-the-table, parasites-on-the-welfare-system ILLEGAL INVADERS from the south of the border get to stay and stay and stay.

All they have to do is make it harder for them to work and many will leave on their own. They should also get rid of the anchor baby nonsense and start deporting them with their children. If they do both then they will make it less desirable for them to come here.