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Student arrested, faces deportation
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by Pedro Oliveira Jr.
Monday, March 31, 2008
A University of Wisconsin graduate student was arrested late
last week and risks deportation to Nigeria, her family said this weekend.
Tope Awe, a third-year graduate student in the UW School of
Pharmacy, and her family were summoned to the U.S. Homeland Security office in
Milwaukee Thursday. When Awe and her brother Gbenga Awe — a recent UW-Stevens
Point graduate — arrived, both were unexpectedly arrested, her father Sam Awe
told The Badger Herald.
“When we got there, the Homeland Security officer came and
took Tope and her brother and told us they were going to fingerprint them,” Sam
Awe said. “We said OK, and that was it. After about one or two hours we started
to worry; it was then that they came out and said they were being interrogated
and were going to be detained.”
According to her father, the
family was called to the U.S. Immigration offices to regularize their residency
status, after a Homeland Security officer visited their residence in November
2007 and told them they were “deportable.”
Tope Awe has been in the U.S.
since she was three years old, is a UW-Milwaukee alumna and moved to Madison
for graduate school.
UW School of Pharmacy Dean
Jeanette Roberts said Caton Roberts, faculty director at Chadbourne Residential
College, visited Awe Saturday morning and has kept in touch with her.
“We’ve been in contact with her sporadically. She seems to
be in good spirits and in good physical and mental health — for being in jail,”
she added.
According to Jeanette Roberts, UW has also contacted Sen.
Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.,
in hope of getting help. Sam Awe said he has also contacted Rep. Gwen Moore,
D-Wis., whose district includes
Milwaukee.
In wake of Awe’s arrest, her friends have started a petition
to ask U.S. Immigration to allow her to stay in the country at least until her
expected graduation in May 2009. They have also started a Facebook group to
spread information on Awe’s situation.
UW senior Selamawit Zewdie, a
close friend involved in the campaign, said they had collected more than 1,330 pieces
of writing in Awe’s support in the last two days — more than 830 signatures, 95
letters and 405 online signatures — and the Facebook group had more than 1,000
members as of early Sunday evening.
Awe is founder and co-chair of the
African Student Association, co-president of the Multicultural Affairs Program
in Pharmacy and a Multicultural Resident Consultant at Chadbourne Residential
College. According to friends and university officials, she is involved in
promoting diversity and a positive climate for students of color at UW.
Zewdie said the letters will be
sent to the judge responsible for hearing Awe’s case, in efforts to show her
“impact and importance” in the UW community.
Dean of Students Lori Berquam said
the UW School of Pharmacy has been most involved with the issue. The School of
Pharmacy has contacted the chancellor’s office in hopes of also getting a
supportive letter from Chancellor John Wiley, Berquam said.
“The student support has been very
fantastic and kind of demonstrates the Wisconsin spirit and the kind of concern
for a fellow student,” Berquam said.
Sam Awe said he came to the U.S. from Nigeria in the fall of
1969, when he started attending the University of California-Davis, later
transferring and receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from California
Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo. He later obtained a Ph.D. from
the UW School of Agriculture in 1979.
Upon graduating from UW, Sam Awe discovered he had a kidney
disease and has since been to the U.S. several times after his body started
rejecting his kidney, he said. The Awe family has been in the country since
1989 on a B1-B2 Visa, which he said has allowed them to stay in the country for
as long as his treatment lasts.
“My wife could not leave [the children] behind, so they came
with my wife to give me moral and psychological support,” Sam Awe said. “That
was the recommendation of my doctor.”
Despite his doctors advising him not to leave the country
due to his medical condition, the 68-year-old man said immigration officials
visited his residence in November 2007 and said he could “seek treatment
somewhere else.”
“My wife and myself have been contributing to the
development of this community. I work as a licensed special education teacher
and so does my wife,” Sam Awe said. “We’ve been paying our taxes now since 1996
and we have property. We register cars; we pay everything we owe.”
Sam Awe said he has contacted a Chicago-based immigration
attorney and will try to contact the responsible judge to arrange a hearing for
his son and daughter. A hearing was originally scheduled for Monday, but has
been moved to a to-be-determined time.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials did not return
a phone call seeking comment Friday.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 3:02am):
What's still not clear is exactly why they'd deport them. Is there a legit reason or not?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 3:27am):
I bet you dollars to donuts that if she were from a European country (whether she was here illegally or not), she would not be in jail right now.
It's a sad state we live in when someone with such exemplary gifts and accomplishments is treated like a criminal for something her parents did when she was three years old
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 3:29am):
Maybe someone more versed in this subject than I can answer this question- since she is not a US citizen or permanent resident, wouldn't she have had to get a student visa to study at UW? In which case she would be able to stay in the country for the duration of her studies?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 8:25am):
Maybe this will start to open everyone's eyes to how ridiculous DHS and ICE are getting with these immigration raids. They don't care about actually keeping us safer. Our communities are better off WITH people like Tope--I mean, how much of a threat could she possibly be? ICE will never understand that people are more than statistics, they're real people, with real families, who are embedded in communities like UW or Madison, and when they are deported or even detained, as we can see with the swelling of support for Tope, it impacts a significant number of people.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 8:30am):
This will not stand. Please, call your legislators, write letters, and come to the protest rally on Library Mall at 12:30 today (MU Trophy Room if raining).
Don't stand by silently.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 9:56am):
Since the US obviously cannot and does not want to enforce immigration laws equally across the board, what's the point of even having them? Why did they wait until now to do anything about it (from either Tope's or the Federal perspective)? When cases like this loom for so many years (or decades), it makes our immigration system look even more like a joke. Normally, I would be one to side with the law, but in this case the Fed dropped the ball BIG time, and because they took so long, should let her stay. There should be some type of statute of limitations for immigration cases like this.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 10:27am):
Why hasn't she obtained a legal status in all those years? student visa is not that difficult to get. Why should be rules broken?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 10:37am):
Correction: Tope Awe did her undergradutate here at UW-Madison, not UW-Milwaukee. She has been in Madison since 2003.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 11:24am):
Wait, I thought the USA had a terrible heath care system? Why didn't this guy go to Britain or Canada or Sweden for heath care?
PS. If she was from a European country she wouldn't be in jail, she'd have been deported already, since there would be no PC problems.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 11:25am):
So - instead of the brain drain, we've got brain deportation.
This just sickens me. There's no point where compassion can be built into this system. And beyond that, rationality. Do we really want to deport highly educated, active members of our community?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 11:38am):
i read on the milwaukee journal that their visas had actually expired a few years ago and that's why they are getting deported. If that is true, then immigration is completely on the right to detain and deport them. It sucks that the parents did nothing to legalize their stay in this country and apply for other visas. She is also an adult, you can't blame her parents for this, she should've applied for student visas when she was 18 knowing that she was in this country illegally. You can't reprimand the government for actually doing their job, but it is sad that it happened to be an extraordinary woman. I truly hope that something works out for her and her brother and she can finish her degree, wherever it may be.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 12:11pm):
Or maybe they can go to Nigeria and make their country a better place. Think positively...:3)
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 12:26pm):
Given that I am all for international/cultural understanding and opportunities for this to happen, this article -and everything I have read on this matter- is extremely slanted.
I have yet to hear a reason as to why Tope is being detained. What is her student visa situation? Is there none? Or is immigration simply not releasing this information?
Until I actually here some facts regarding THIS issue, and not her personal academic record, I'm not going to sign anything or rally and protest.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 12:42pm):
I'd protest if either ICE or the family could better explain the details.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 1:29pm):
OK Pedro.... You wrote this article. Do you know WHY they are being deported? Did they fail to keep their non-citizen documentation up to date? Have they involved themselves in criminal activities?
You want to be an investigative journalist, Pedro? Report sufficient basic facts so a reasonable assessment of the individuals actions versus the governments actions can be made. If the reader can't make that assessment (and clearly, you have supplied insufficient information to do that) then you have not done you job as a journalist. You have only achieved status as a "Urinalist";i.e. supplying just enough information to get the easily excitable 'pissed off'!
How about doing 'due diligence' before running a half-story like this?
william mcdonald (March 31, 2008 @ 3:17pm):
illegal is illegal, if she is illegal she should be deported. just being a nice person does not qualify you to break the law.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 3:40pm):
Tope sounds like genuinely good person, and I hope she is allowed to stay in the country to complete her education. However, as 3.02 and 3.29 point out, it is not clear why she is being deported. Did she have all the paperwork to legally study in the US? Was she/her family aware of the legality of this situation? And 3.27, I'm not sure where you're heading with your "European country" comment. I hope you're not implying racism; I know of several Europeans who have been deported from this country. It should be obvious that people from European countries have it easier to travel/study in the US (and for USians to travel/study in europe) due to visa treaties between the countries. African and Asian countries don't have such deals with the US -- and no, its not racism, just simple economics. Again, best wishes to this girl.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 3:43pm):
"In a 2003 U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit Court decision, Awe 's father Samuel Adebisi Awe failed in a request for asylum and withholding of deportation for political and medical reasons. The appeal states that Samuel Awe 's wife and three children, including Tope, remained in the United States beyond the date authorized on their visas."
Funny how this was left out of the Herald article. They have known since 2003 that they are here illegally. I have to side with the immigration officials on this one. They knew they were not in compliance with the law and decided to ignore it. Just because you don't like a law does not mean you don't have to abide by it.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 4:10pm):
i really don't think any comment on this case is relevant until it is determined why she was arrested. until then, everything else is propaganda.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 4:16pm):
I don't know...she was here on an expired visa for five years. She must have known that was the case--she's a third year graduate student. I'm not exactly jumping out of my seat to protest an obvious consequence of breaking the law.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 4:35pm):
Below is the purpose of a B1/B2 Visa. It appears that this family has been violating federal requirements since 1989. Yes they appear to be a nice family. But who should make the tough decisions on immigration, US citizens through their elected officials who draft the laws, or foreign individuals and families who violate the US requirements?
The purpose of the VISIT should be short term and the applicant should have permanent residence in the home country. To obtain B1/B2 VISA, the visitor should show strong evidance to prove that their intention is just to visit USA and their stay in US will only be temporary. Also, they should submit the documents to prove that they have strong base in their home country and will return from US within the permitted time.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 6:55pm):
This does not sound good at all. I some situations people become very rigid to a set of rules even when there is an insufficient understanding of the reasons behind the rules.
Looking at this particular situation, a 3 year old girl is innocent of immigration matters. At the time she was brought to the United states, whe was still a baby (under 18), and she has grown up in this country for soo long a time. In addition to the positive things we have read about her, she should be treated like a citizen by now....
If she was above 18 years when she came into the country as a dependent of a B1 visa holder, then we can say she should be more knowledgeable about immigration laws.
It will be good if the government will incorporate good reason into this situation.
The government should also imagine what image this act will portray overseas.
Will the united states government be happy if an american is treated like this in Nigeria?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 7:12pm):
There must be an element to this story that isn't being mentioned in this article. Why now? After two decades of living in Wisconsin? What triggered the Department of Homeland Security to take such an interest in this family? Why isn't she eligible for a student visa? What about her brother?
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 11:14pm):
I blame the Campus Antiwar Network for this! STUPID LIBERALS AND THEIR LIBERAL IDEAS! Deport them all, liberals and ***CANS!! How dare someone try something like this in MY country! These colors don't run!
Erin Perkins (March 31, 2008 @ 11:20pm):
So, you're going to send them back to a country they've never been to? Good going, U.S. government. Like other posters, I would like to know what triggered this deportation effort.
One thing I would like to point out in reference to one of the uninformed comments, which was posted here, is that people are not ILLEGAL. They are undocumented. Allow individuals some dignity in these matters, please.
Hopefully, this incident will trigger much-needed conversation regarding our broken immigration system. The government may be "doing its job," it is doing so inefficiently and with significant bias.
Anonymous (March 31, 2008 @ 11:21pm):
I thought that getting educated and uplifting one's community was at the core of being a citizen. It is indeed sad when a person's dignity suffocates under the weight of flawed policy.
-Elena Colas
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 12:17am):
One of the sad things about ICE detainees and potential deportees: they can be held for an indefinite amount of time. There's no law protecting people of questionable immigration status, so they can be held without due process for years. The fact that a hearing was originally scheduled for today is an amazing accomplishment- seeing as hearings aren't a required part of the process. It's beyond sad that people who come here because of a parent's medical situation and are being held under questionable visa status technically have no rights. If her father is still on dialysis I find no reason the family shouldn't have been granted an extention or asylum status back in 2003.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 12:17am):
"The Awe family has been in the country since 1989 on a B1-B2 Visa, which he said has allowed them to stay in the country for as long as his treatment lasts."
If the dad's treatment is still going on, they should be allowed to stay, as per the B1-B2 visa.
If he is well and dandy, then they should either renew their visas, seek citizen status/naturalization, or leave.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 8:23am):
I hope she can get this issue straightened out and stay long enough to graduate, but not beyond that. Anything else is a slap in the face for students from other countries who come here on a proper visa.
Consequences of getting a student visa:
1) pay non-resident tuition
2) do not qualify for uw need-based/merit-based scholarships
3) inability to apply for low-interest student loans
4) show ties to home country and express desire to return after graduation.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 8:35am):
i cannot believe this. a young woman who is a working her way to becoming a wonderful addition to society is facing deportation!?! what is wrong with this country? it sounds like tope and her family are involved with their community and give back to society in some of the best ways. why would we want to get them out of the country when we have american citizens who are way worse than them! and when i put myself in her shoes it gets even worse: she is a hard working student getting ready to finish up the spring semester and BAM! now shes being detained, missing class possibly tests and other important school functions! what an awful way to treat a young person whos only intent is to gain an education!
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 8:37am):
I, like other folks commenting, don't understand the full story. Why is she getting deported? Did they not keep their immigration records updated?
There are many as-academically-gifted immigrants as Tope in the US from all over the world who are here legally and make sure they keep their records up-to-date. There is just no sympathy from me, even though Tope and her family seem like good people. The law is the law and if US citizens would be in such a situation overseas, the same treatment would (and has) befallen them.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 10:48am):
What a horrible piece of journalism. I dont think Ive ever read such a one-sided story. My question, like the many others above me, is, why was she detained originially??
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 11:03am):
I seriously think this is a little shady! If she has been enrolled in higher education for this long, howcome that she was put to jail? don't u have to at least have an immigration status (F-1, J-1..whatever) before you are enrolled? so what is her current immigration status?? something has got to give...someone is not being straight forward here...there's definately more to it. either from the family or from immigration. please lets not just jump into conclusions cuz we have to put one and one together to get two. and not just jump into conclusions....
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 12:54pm):
the badger herald is generally a horrible excuse for journalism, and is normally one-sided and under-informed. we are not surprised.
Anonymous (April 1, 2008 @ 6:52pm):
You don't need a student visa to study at a University. You need a student visa to get to the US, not to enroll in classes.
Universities are not Federal institutions, and well all know from H.S. AP Government that only the Fed regulates immigration.
That's why kids that grew up in America but are here illegally are facing a dilemma right now, where there is NOTHING they can do to remain the country legally, not a student visa, no line to stand in. Unless the DREAM Act passes.
Once someone is here illegally, whether it's by choice, or in her case, not, they're barred from legalizing their situation, that is, unless they get married. But no, she can't just go and get a student visa. Once she's deported she's barred from entering the country for a period of 10 years.
If you think she should leave, just tell her to go back to Mexico, like you tell everyone else.
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 2:55pm):
Facts about case:
Tope and the Awe family are legal immigrants, the family came he with valid visas in 1989. But their visas expired in 1995. But Dr. Awe's health was still an issue, so they remained in the USA for his health and the childrens education. In 1998 Homeland contacted the Awe's and told them to leave due to expired visas. Dr. Awe and is lawyer filed for Asylum in order to stay, but lost their case. And appeal was filed that was also denied and thats where the order of deportation come from and that was 2003. Tope and her brother were 13, 15 years of age in 1998 when the case began. They were minors and under their parents case. After being denied his appeal, Dr. Awe and his family were granted an extension due to his medical situation til 2004. Tope's Dad health issues prevented any thought of leaving to Nigeria. With two prior kidney rejections, leaving the medical care he his recieving right now in the USA would be death. Fast foward to present day, ICE has quotas to get, and thats it in a nut shell. ICE cares not about protecting the society put about the numbers.... Tope did nothing and with an order of Deportation from when you were a minor it is had to grasp what ICE was thinking detaining her and brother. And these are the facts.
Anonymous (April 2, 2008 @ 4:57pm):
i do not think is fair to make propaganda remarks..besides all of us are immigrants. this country was built by immigrants! there is no such thing as an "American" so making snotty remarks is not going to cut it. the best we can do is hope and pray that everything works out for her. no-one is forcing anybody to sign their name or protest...do what you think is right and do not judge Tope. you are not in her shoes.
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 3:35am):
i think u guys that are negative are just sick....even if she is illegal are u sure she knew she was??? she qualifies for a us Citizen because she has been there long enuff to be one and more over she pays taxes dat feed ur broke ass government....get real...or is dis a racism thing??
Anonymous (April 3, 2008 @ 6:56pm):
If she is in graduate school, than I would assume that she is a legal adult. In this case, how would she still be covered by her Father's Visa? I think it would be great if she were able to stay here and, at least, complete her degree. She should seek a student visa, as that is what she should have no. I wish her the best of luck. I truly hope that she is, somehow, able to stay in the country.
Anonymous (April 5, 2008 @ 7:20pm):
I think mercy and compassion have actually blacked-out in the hearts of humans. Do you really know what being on dialysis mean? Do you really feel the situation at hand?
Tell me what a better citizen than this family!!
Anonymous (April 7, 2008 @ 10:48am):
Wow, this is a very touchy indeed. Though, I feel the confusion in the situation, I am a Nigerian and I know how we often like to capitalise on stuff such as this. From the information gathered here, it is obvious that the parents knew the right thing to do, but either because of the dad's illness or so,they have let things to get this bad. As a parent,I think the best thing to do is acknowledge their fault in the matter and appeal to government to allow them make the necessary amendments for Tope's sake so that she can complete her studies.
This is not a matter for aggression as they have no right to overstay their welcome in a foreign country....they have been caught, they should appeal for Mercy.
Anonymous (April 17, 2008 @ 12:20am):
If she's here illegally, deport. Rules are rules folks.
Anonymous (May 9, 2008 @ 3:14pm):
Open Letter to European Comission for total
embargo against the US for deportation of EU scientist
Open Letter to European Comission:
Attn: European Comission:
Dear Sir or Madame,
I am a theoretical Physicist holding German citizenship
and the passport of the Republic of Poland and world expert
in Condensed Matter Theory.
On June 2007 I was arrested by the United States Border Protection
Service while I was trying to get to Canada for Polish (Europenian
Community passport found with me with expired USA visa stamp
wnen waiting for extension and ajustement of my US work visa.
I was tortured with one week of forcible travel to concentration
camp i Florence Arizona when I was kept for two monts with
citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador i amounts about
200 per one cell and forced to public showers for stamp
in Europeanian passport.
I immigrated to United States from Poland for the purpose
of PhD studies in the University of Rochester holding student
visa forced by hunger in Reublic of Poland before its
EU membership, was never
charged by the United States of any crime neither worked there
illigally to laws of the United States,
I request the investigaion against the United States government,
United States and the persons involved and ask the
European comission to stop the diplomatic
relations with the United States and all economic, banking and trade
ties until I am allowed to return to my home in Utah, car
detained at Cannadian border and
property based
of natural law and common understanding of rights.
This mistreatment of European scientist by the government
of United States must face immediate response of the
European Union and must be explained.
Sincerely,
Matt Kalinski
Anonymous (June 17, 2008 @ 10:19am):
Please sign the petition
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/let-matt-kalinski-stay.html
Anonymous (June 21, 2008 @ 12:48pm):
Is this even allowed..This is pure racism..First of because she is black..then because she is Nigerian..Do they do this to other people ...No they don't... They should request an investigation...And i don't mean those ones that last forever.....This are people who have a life, family and friends ..You cant just come one day and end it..its unfair and wrong on every level....
Anonymous (August 16, 2008 @ 12:42pm):
The problem is protocal was not followed. Visas were not current. Laws were not followed. What ever happend to the motto ignerance of the law is not an excuse. They have received an education for free and not had to pay taxes. I'm sure his medical treatment was paid for and they couldn't even follow the law. They should all be deported.
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