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Date sent: Thu, 02 Jan 2003 12:36:24 -0000 Amazing! We take in the world's garbage that will be nothing but a drain on society and that we have to support; even give amnesty to criminal invaders that break our laws, yet we throw out white refugees running for their lives. Seems they're the wrong color. We don't need mor whites, I guess - that might interfere with 'diversity." =================== Warner couple forced to return to South Africa BETSY RICE Associated Press WARNER, S.D. - Family forced to return to South Africa Warner couple, children fled violence on African farms By Betsy Rice Associate Editor Hope for prosperity and safety prompted Frieda and Wessel Steenkamp to immigrate to the United States in May 2001. But as they observe their second New Year's in this country, there will be no celebration. By order of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the couple, both in their early 30s, and their two young children will be deported. On Jan. 9, they will leave the home near Warner where they'd hoped to build a future. They must return to South Africa. Although most of the world's attention is focused elsewhere, international news services report that South Africa's 40,000 white farmers - primarily Boer Afrikaners of Dutch descent - are under siege. >From January 2001 to April 2002, more than 200 have died in some 1,400 armed attacks on white-owned farms. In the previous five years some 700 farmers were killed. The end of apartheid in 1994 unleashed violent - and largely unchecked - reverse discrimination, according to news reports and the Steenkamps. Many blacks insist the land was stolen from them generations ago and they are bent on retaliation. Fear and hopelessness impelled the couple's decision to leave the family farm near the town of Brits. "My husband farmed with a gun on his body," says Frieda, whose first language is Afrikaans. She quit her job in a bank when hijackings on the road made a flat tire or mechanical problems with a vehicle too risky. She says women and children are raped by blacks with AIDS, who have been told that will cure the disease. So when she and her husband learned of an opportunity to work in the United States, they took action. A former countryman, Petras Botes, traveled to South Africa regularly to recruit temporary workers for the American agriculture industry. For $2,000 per person for work permits, passports and airline tickets, he promised the chance to recoup that and more. Frieda says they borrowed the money from Wessel's father and in May 2001, set off with their children, Wessel Jr., now 5, and Hendrico, now 3. "My father-in-law said we had guts to take our kids and go to take on the world," she says. Arriving in Salina, Kan., in a group of 26, the Steenkamps and the others discovered their benefactor mysteriously missing. Botes and four relatives had been arrested on suspicion of running an international alien ring using illegal visas, a charge that he has denied. Questions about their visas left the South Africans stranded, unable to work. Motels extended credit, but made it clear that payment would eventually be expected. The Steenkamps and others pooled their money to buy food and when that was gone, accepted help from the local food bank. "The public library gave us a barbecue," Frieda relates. "The way people reached out to us was amazing." After two-and-a-half months, the INS advised the couple to take their children and re-enter the country legally. "We went to Mexico," Frieda says. "The food bank rented the car and gave us money to make the trip." They drove from Kansas, crossed the border to Mexico, turned immediately around and re-entered the United States. It sounds silly, but Tina Andrews, a South African living in Aberdeen, explains it's no joke. "Whatever (the INS) says, we'll do. Tell us how high to jump and we will." It's a choice between a life of freedom and a life of fear. The Steenkamps relinquished their visitor visas at the Mexican border for parole status, which permitted them to seek temporary employment here. They learned of Andrews, whose Aberdeen-based Employment USA works with the Labor Department to fill temporary jobs in this country with South African workers. While they waited for their needed paperwork, Andrews invited Frieda, Wessel and their youngsters to stay with her family in Aberdeen. Four adults and four children shared the house for six weeks. "It was winter, snowing - and we're still friends," Andrews says laughing. The Steenkamps made other friends - joining the First Assembly of God Church, attending Bible study and encouraging their boys' involvement with the children's ministry. "They have become more than just part of the church family," says the Rev. Gary Wileman. "They're not people who just sit in the pew. They've really entered into close friendships." A friend of a friend came up with a job opportunity. Keith Eichler told Andrews that Carey Nilsson and his brother Marlin were looking for help on their farming operation near Warner. "What they needed, Wessel could offer." "He's an excellent individual," Carey Nilsson says about the South African. "He just loves farming, raising a crop, running big equipment." In addition to a salary - from which are deducted Medicare, Social Security and other taxes, Nilsson notes - the Steenkamps, like the Nilssons' other three full-time farm workers, got the use of a house. "They fixed it up and painted. (Frieda) painted a big mural in the playroom." On May 24, the Steenkamps filed for political asylum - their only hope for remaining in this country once their parole status expired. Nancy Peterson, a St. Paul, Minn., immigration lawyer the couple consulted, explains. "There is no asylum for people leaving a poor economic situation or generalized crime. Asylum-seekers have to show persecution based on race, religion, national origin, political opinion or membership in a social group." Although international journalists and others describe the situation as a "powder keg," Peterson points out that Human Rights Watch maintains the attacks on white farmers are criminally, not racially, motivated. "If someone walks into your home and says, 'Where do you keep the jewelry, where's the money?' there's no motive other than robbery." The immigration judge in St. Paul who heard the Steenkamps' case apparently agreed. "Many people get a close relative or a company to sponsor them, but asylum is very, very difficult," Peterson says. "Less than 25 percent get in under that." Because their parole status would expire in mid-June, Frieda says there wasn't time to try another approach, which might have been more successful. Peterson adds that being deported makes it very unlikely that they'll ever be able to return to this country. The couple had been optimistic. They knew of two South African families in circumstances nearly identical to theirs who had been granted political asylum. In late July, Frieda spoke of their own situation: "If they deny you, they'll deport you. But I have faith in this." As her friend Andrews recently observed, that judge was in a different region. Peterson says the Steenkamps did a good job presenting their case. The judge found them credible. But changes in the Bureau of Immigration Appeals ordered by Attorney General John Ashcroft after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, may have worked against them. Most cases are reviewed by only one judge, who must decide within 90 days, with no explanation required. Previously, three-judge panels heard each case and many immigrants waited years for a decision. Immigration advocates have objected to the changes. "The judge was trying to see if we were talking the truth," Wessel explains. "He asked if we'd ever been harmed. We hadn't. "It's not the judge's fault. I understand why he denied it. They have rules." Not everyone shares Wessel's resignation. "It's the biggest injustice I've every seen in my life," Nilsson says. "He's doing everything for all the right reasons to make a better life for his kids. He's here, keeping all his money here and they're going to kick him out." Eichler, who was instrumental in finding a job for Wessel, shares that view. "If there were good productive people who would be an asset to our state and this country, it would be these people," he says. "It's going to be hard to see them go." Frieda is getting ready for a moving sale, which they hope will help finance the trip home with perhaps enough extra to begin to repay the loan from Wessel's dad that financed their trip to the United States. It's a frustrating end to their saga. Still, Frieda says, "It was really a special 19 months ... the people we meet and the support we had was really special." Somehow, "We believe God will guide us and keep us safe." And while attacks on white farmers continue, their families have not been targeted. But, emotionally and physically, "I have no strength," she says. "I'm tired." Andrews, trying to lighten the mood, suggests that Frieda's pregnancy might be a factor. No, Frieda shakes her head and smiles. "I'm really tired." Information from: Aberdeen American News http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/4854630.htm ------- End of forwarded message ------- -- Outgoing mail is certified virus free Scanned by Norton AntiVirus <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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