In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful CAIR ACTION ALERT #361
RELIEF SOUGHT FOR MUSLIM FAMILY FACING DEPORTATION American-born children have life-threatening medical conditions (WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/9/03) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on the immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to grant humanitarian relief in the case of a Pakistani family in Delaware whose American-born children could face death from congenital medical conditions if a threatened deportation is carried out. The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group says the children's father is currently being detained by the INS on an eight-year-old deportation order. (The family's request for asylum was denied at that time.) Two of his children are American citizens who have severe congenital conditions that require round-the-clock medical care. One child suffers from beta-thalassemia major, a condition that necessitates blood transfusions every few weeks and 12-hour iron chelation treatments almost every night. The other child, who is unable to speak and can only communicate through simple gestures, suffers from cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, developmental delay, and micropolygyria. The children's physicians say it would be unlikely that they would be able to obtain adequate long-term treatment or therapy for these conditions if their mother and father, who have been responsible for their care, are deported to Pakistan. If the children remain in the United States without their parents, they would be forced into foster care or other state-run residential placement. In a letter to INS Acting District Director (Philadelphia) Theodoro Nordmark, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote: "The parents of these American citizens remained in this country to access medical and educational resources that would not be available, or would be beyond their means, in Pakistan. If any case cries out for humanitarian intervention, it is this one. We are all bound by the law, but the law must be tempered with understanding and compassion." Awad said it is within Nordmark's power to grant a humanitarian parole to the father so he may return to the family and resume caring for and supporting his children. ACTION REQUESTED: Send a respectful and polite letter to the INS requesting a humanitarian parole to protect the health and well-being of two American children. CONTACT: Mr. Theodoro Nordmark Acting District Director USINS Philadelphia District Office 1600 Callowhill Street Philadelphia, PA 19130 FAX: 215-656-7200 E-MAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] COPY TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/philadelphia/aboutus.htm ----- FARIDI NETWORK - sharing the knowledge http://faridi.net/ To subscribe to or unsubscribe from Faridi News, go to: http://faridi.net/news/
