Thread: CA-Exchange Student Refusing To Leave Petaluma Home

Sep 8, 2008 10:30 am US/Pacific
Exchange Student Refusing To Leave Petaluma Home
PETALUMA (AP) ― A Belarusian teenager who refused to return home from a summer exchange has applied for a student visa so she can attend school in Petaluma.

Tanya Kazyra, a 16-year-old staying with a family as part of the Chernobyl Childrens Project, is asking for the visa so she can stay in the country longer. Her immigration attorney, Christopher Kerosky, says the U.S. has been reluctant to issue student visas since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Kazyra was supposed to fly home Aug. 5 after a six-week stay with her host family, Manuel and Debra Zapata. She said she wanted to stay because she was afraid to return home to an abusive father.

The Belarusian government demanded her return, accused the family of kidnapping and suspended all future exchange program trips for other children. Oleg Kravchenko, charge de affairs at the Belarus embassy in Washington DC, says programs will remain canceled until the U.S. guarantees this will not happen again.

Kazrya's tourist visa expires Dec. 25. She will need a student visa and a change of immigration status to attend school in Petaluma



http://cbs5.com/local/petaluma.exchange ... 12551.html

Way too many unanswered questions and problems to have anything close to open borders and a free flowing "global world".

The Belarusian government demanded her return, accused the family of kidnapping and suspended all future exchange program trips for other children.

If we could only realize the same attitude from the Mexican government, demanding the presence of their nationals.

Originally Posted by vortex

The Belarusian government demanded her return, accused the family of kidnapping and suspended all future exchange program trips for other children.

If we could only realize the same attitude from the Mexican government, demanding the presence of their nationals.

Haha. I wish. I bet we couldnt even pay Mexico enough money to take their illegal aliens back.