a1439: Haitian mother pleads family hardship (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Friday, March 22, 2002
Haitian pleads family hardship


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Mother of 4-year-old claims deportation would mean breakup


By Dan Horn, dhorn@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
        The mother of a 4-year-old boy claimed in a lawsuit
Thursday that the U.S. government will break up her family
if she is deported to Haiti.

        Magalie Jean Louis had been living in Dayton, Ohio,
before her arrest in Cincinnati three months ago on
immigration charges. She has been in jail ever since.

        She is married to a U.S. citizen and was attempting
to apply for permanent-resident status when she was taken
into custody by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.


        According to her lawsuit, Ms. Louis was deemed
deportable because a judge had denied her application for
asylum three years ago.

        She argues that her deportation would violate
international law because it would cause “extreme hardship
and irreparable harm” to her family.

        “The impact that the deportation of the mother
would have is profound,” said Ms. Louis' attorney, Firooz
Namei.

        “We're saying that international norms would not
allow the government to break up and destroy a family,” he
said.

        INS officials could not be reached for comment
Thursday.

        The lawsuit is unusual because it relies solely on
international law, rather than U.S. law.

        Mr. Namei said U.S. laws are silent on the issue of
breaking up a family.



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