Feinstein may file bill to help teen facing deportation
By Vanessa Colon - Fresno Bee
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, June 8, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A4

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Arthur Mkoyan, 17, a 4.0 student who was valedictorian at Fresno's Bullard High School, may have to leave the country with his Armenian family. If a bill is filed on his behalf, the ouster could be delayed.
Mark Crosse / Fresno Bee


FRESNO – Arthur Mkoyan, a high school valedictorian who may be deported to Armenia this month, is counting on letters of support from across the state and nation to help him.

Mkoyan, 17, of Fresno pleaded to classmates, friends and teachers at his hometown Bullard High School on Friday to write letters to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein encouraging her to introduce legislation that would enable him and his parents to stay in the United States.

Friday was his last day of class at the school. Mkoyan will graduate Tuesday at the Save Mart Center.

The valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average drew attention across the nation after his story first appeared in the Fresno Bee. He plans to attend the University of California, Davis, where he has been accepted.

The letters of support are important, Mkoyan said.

"It's to convince the people who are judging the private bill," he said Friday. "Hopefully, they will introduce the bill by the end of next week so all of us can stay."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Mkoyan and his mother to leave the United States by late June and return to Armenia, a country Mkoyan hasn't seen since he was 2. His 12-year-old brother, a U.S. citizen, has no other choice but to leave with Mkoyan and his mother if they're deported, the family has said.

The Mkoyan family fled the former Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992.

The father, Ruben Mkoian, ran a general store and worked as a police officer in the then- Soviet Republic of Armenia, where he was threatened by former Soviet government workers as the Soviet Union was breaking up, his wife has said.

Mkoian applied for asylum but was rejected. Mkoian, who spells his name differently than his son, appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco but lost and is at a detention center in Arizona.

Feinstein, who has introduced private bills in the past, is gathering Mkoyan's information to introduce a bill on his behalf, according to Feinstein's office in Washington, D.C. Feinstein's office is still waiting on some information from the family, such as letters from the school and a church that provide a picture of the situation.

"The most important thing for them is to get as much information as they can so Feinstein can make a decision," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Feinstein.

If introduced, the bill would halt the deportation. If it passes, he would receive a green card. But private bills rarely pass, according to Feinstein's office.

On Thursday, Mkoyan visited the local office of U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa. The staff listened to his story and planned to help Feinstein's office draft a private bill, Mkoyan said.

The congressman has sent a letter to Feinstein supporting her legislation on behalf of Mkoyan, Radanovich spokesman Spencer Pederson said Friday. The letter notes that such a bill was unlikely to pass in the House, but that previous legislation of this nature has been successful in the Senate.

On Monday, Radanovich plans to meet with the Armenian ambassador to the United States to ask that, if deportation can't be prevented, Mkoyan be allowed to apply for a student visa to return to the United States, Pederson said.

Mkoyan said he's still surprised by the overwhelming response he's received.

"The help is much appreciated," he said.


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