Ofelia Boudaguian says she hoped for fair treatment when she and her family came to the United States in 1995
Published:
4 December 2004 y., Saturday
Ofelia Boudaguian says she hoped for fair treatment when she and her family came to the United States in 1995, after years of suffering discrimination and violence in Latvia.
After nearly a decade in the St. Louis area, though, Boudaguian says she feels let down by the American legal system, which has denied the family political asylum and now threatens them with deportation at any moment.
"We live now day by day. It's so scary," she said. A knock on the door might mean that she and her husband, Vitalik Boudaguian, and their two children must gather their belongings, submit to arrest and go to a detention facility to await deportation.
Their one-year tourist visas expired May 18, 1996. The family's efforts to gain asylum have drawn support from a dedicated group of friends, who met Ofelia Boudaguian through her job as a cosmetologist at the Personalities Hair and Nails Salon in Manchester.
After the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals here ruled July 22 to deny the family's request for asylum, the friends launched a full-bore campaign to block their deportation. They have met with Laura Bush, peppered acquaintances of Attorney General John Ashcroft with letters and phone calls, visited the office of President George W. Bush's uncle in Clayton, corresponded with the offices of U.S. Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond and Jim Talent, and collected 2,000 signatures on the family's behalf.
Šaltinis:
stltoday.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Every year 10 000 people lose their lives due to landmines.
more »
Frustrated by the technical explanation of the nuclear crisis in Japan, artist Hachiya Kazuhiko creates cartoon character "Nuclear Boy" for clarification.
more »
A Polish collector discovers a photo believed to be of Frederic Chopin taken just after his death in 1849.
more »
EGNOS-for-aviation, a satellite navigation service launched on 2 March 2011, will increase flight safety, reduce delays and open up new destinations.
more »
Worker finds two time capsules amid earthquake rubble in Christchurch as search and rescue teams continue to comb through debris from the New Zealand earthquake.
more »
A group of elderly men in Brazil have taken up running as they race disease and old age.
more »
"Taxi Yoga," a new exercise class for taxi drivers, helps stretch away the stress of driving a cab in New York City.
more »
Twenty-five rescued circus lions leave Bolivia for a new life at a U.S. animal sanctuary.
more »
Colombian flower growers prepare rose exports for Valentine's Day and hope to reap profits despite a strengthening peso.
more »
Mexican animal rights activists coat their bodies in fake blood to protest bullfighting.
more »