Thread: Rangel Fighting to Keep Illegal Immigrant Students in U.S.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.asp ... /rangel626

Rangel Fighting to Keep Academically Gifted, Illegal Immigrant Students in U.S.
Date: Monday, June 26, 2006
By: William Douglas, BlackAmericaWeb.com

Rep. Charles Rangel has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to provide legal residency to an 18-year-old, academically talented illegal immigrant in New York who faces deportation to his homeland in Senegal.

The measure by Rangel, a New York Democrat who represents Harlem, is the latest salvo by several members of Congress to keep the teen, Amadou Heinz Ly, and Dan-el Padilla -- another academically outstanding illegal immigrant who was Princeton University’s salutatorian this year -- from being kicked out of the United States.

The cases of Ly and Padilla highlight the current hot-button debate over the nation’s immigration policy. Supporters of stricter enforcement of the country’s immigration laws charge that illegal immigrants take advantage of America’s social service system, including public education, costing taxpayers millions -- if not billions -- of dollars annually.

Proponents of a comprehensive immigration policy believe that illegal immigrants who have been in this country over a sustained period, quietly played by the rules and haven’t committed any crimes should have a chance to chase the American dream and eventually become citizens.

Ly, who attended high school in East Harlem, entered the U.S. legally from Senegal in 2001 when he was 13. His mother left Ly to fend for himself in New York after her visitor’s visa expired, hoping that he could get a quality, American education.

He survived by working odd jobs and lived with a family friend who signed his paperwork for school. He thrived academically. He was part of an East Harlem team this year that made it to a national robotics contest in Atlanta, competing against 8,000 other bright students from around the country.

Ly earned admission to New York City College of Technology, but his college dream is in jeopardy because he faces deportation proceedings after his illegal status was discovered in November 2004 when the car in which he was a passenger was involved in an accident in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania state troopers informed federal officials that Ly was illegal.

Rangel and other lawmakers believe Ly deserves to stay in the United States because he has shown the grit and determination to make it here, despite the daunting odds.

“His brilliance and determination to succeed, despite the difficult circumstances of his life, in my view, have earned him not only our compassion, but our enthusiastic support,” Rangel said in a written release earlier this week. “He is the type of young man that every country would want to have as their own.”

Last April, Rangel and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, wrote Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, asking him to use his broad discretion under the Immigration and Nationality Act “to act favorably on Amadou’s efforts to remain in the country in order to pursue his studies, and ultimately, to attain lawful permanent residency.”

Last month, Rangel and Clinton joined Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., in writing Chertoff and Emilio Gonzalez, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on behalf of Dan-el Padilla.

Like Ly, Padilla’s story is a tale of up-by-the-bootstraps resiliency. His family entered the United States legally from the Dominican Republic in 1989 so his mother could get proper pre-natal care, but the family remained long after their six-month visa expired. Padilla’s father abandoned the family, returning to the Dominican Republic. Padilla’s mother and brother lived in homeless shelters and run-down apartments in the South Bronx and other rough neighborhoods in New York.

That didn’t prevent Padilla, 21, from hitting the books and attending the Collegiate School, a prep school in Manhattan, and earning a full scholarship to Princeton University. Fluent in five languages and steeped in Greek and Latin classics, Padilla graduated from the prestigious Ivy League institution earlier this month and received a scholarship to study for two years at the highly-selective Oxford University in England.

However, if Padilla goes to Oxford, he risks being unable to re-enter the United States because he is an illegal immigrant. Padilla's illegal status became known after he outted himself to the media.

“If he leaves the U.S. without rectifying he immigration status … he will be barred from returning for 10 years, which would bar him from visiting his U.S. citizen brother and his mother,” the four lawmakers wrote to Chertoff and Gonzalez. “However, should he remain in the U.S. without legalizing his status, he will have to live in the shadows and be subject to unemployment and lose the opportunity to continue his studies. We cannot, as a society, penalize a person whose exceptional promise ensures his fulfillment of the American dream.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH, Rep. Rush Holt, R-NJ, and Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., have also written letters on Padilla's behalf, according to Rangel’s office.

Department of Homeland Security officials, responding earlier this month to Holt’s letter, said no decision has been made yet on Padilla’s case. Stephen Yale-Loehr, Padilla’s attorney, told the Associated Press this month that he’s “cautiously optimistic” that U.S. immigration officials will help the young scholar.

Padilla says he’s taking a wait-and-see approach as to whether extending his education in England could cost him his ability to return to the U.S.

“I will take everything as it comes,” he told CNN. “And I will say that I worry about things, but I’m not afraid of them. And if that should happen, then that is what will happen. I hope that does not happen.”

Rangel’s office received a reply from Homeland Security officials to his letter about Ly last month, saying the teen is scheduled to go before an immigration judge on July 21. Because Ly’s case is pending, the department couldn’t comment further about it, the letter said.

These boo hoo stories are just coming out of the woodwork! I'm sure it will get even worse considering most of the MSM is very much aligned with the open borders crowd.

Every human being has a story. I'm glad that these students were good people, but they still broke the law.

See my story for the other kind of illegal alien:

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-25749-.html

I'm a citizen, so I guess I just don't count.

When we make mistakes, and problems arise from those mistakes,
are we to expect the government to write laws to bail us out?

I would like to know how if they were that poor he got into a prestigiuos high school in Manhattan. It used to really peeve me that I had to pay full tuition for my son at a prep school while other he was sitting next to were attending for free. I had to struggle to pay for his school tuition so he would have a chance at a better education and the public schools are a breeding ground for criminals. Why should I have to pay while others get their education for free.? Please tell what is wrong with this picture?

Ship them both back they have gotten enough for free from the american taxpayers. If they are both so smart they will survive no matter where they go.