Thread: Three Indonesians from New Jersey church report for deportation

Three Indonesians from New Jersey church report for deportation

They rejected sanctuary given to fourth Christian man

By Erica Pearson / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, March 19, 2012, 4:20 PM
Updated: Monday, March 19, 2012, 4:58 PM.

Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale offered three men sanctuary from deportation but they rejected it. A fourth, Saul Timisela, is bedding down in the church.

A New Jersey church offered sanctuary to three more Indonesian Christians, but they decided to report to the feds to be deported.

It’s the latest twist in an asylum drama that’s been playing out over the last few months — and has one immigrant holed up in the church to avoid being booted.

Pastor Seth Kaper-Dale of the Reformed Church of Highland Park has been pushing the feds to lay off his parishioners, many of whom claim they would be persecuted in their Muslim-majority homeland.

Some of the Indonesians have been given extensions on their cases; others have been told they must leave immediately.

Highland Park factory worker Ferdy Warou, who left Indonesia in 2000 on a tourist visa, showed up at Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Newark office Monday morning and was put on a 1:05 p.m. flight, Kaper-Dale said.

“Now his wife’s being forced to be widowed, if you will, by the system,” the pastor said of Warou’s spouse, Sylvia, who has also overstayed her visa but is still in New Jersey.

While Warou and two other men decided to turn themselves in, Saul Timisela is still bedding down in a Sunday school classroom after he skipped his March 1 deportation appointment.

ICE calls him an “immigration fugitive” but has no apparent plans to raid the church.

An agency spokesman Monday declined to comment further on Timisela's case - and said ICE's decision to deport or give more time "varies on the individual."

“Saul’s still with us. He’s doing great,” said Kaper-Dale.

Dozens of Indonesians affiliated with the church are fighting deportation after they missed the deadline to apply for asylum within a year after arriving in the U.S.

There is legislation pending in the House of Representatives that would change the asylum rule just for them.

Church officials are meeting Tuesday with Newark ICE officials and the agency’s Washington-based public advocate.

President Obama told officials last year to focus on booting immigrants with criminal records, allowing some with close U.S. ties to stay.

Kaper-Dale said he can’t understand why his parishioners don’t qualify.

epearson@nydailynews.com

Three Indonesians from New Jersey church report for deportation - NY Daily News

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/despite-n-j...ported-253330/