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Is It Fair to Deport the Vangs?

For more than a decade, Guy and Genevieve Vang waited for the immigration bureaucracy to respond to their application for political asylum. They had two children, U.S. citizens by birth, before the government decided, in late 2000, to begin removal proceedings.

They and their [first] two children came to the United States from France, the country they fled to after they escaped war in Laos and Vietnam. They got working papers, filed for political asylum and waited.

They eventually opened up a restaurant, Bangkok 96, in Dearborn, Mich., and had two more children. But they continued to wait on word from the government about their asylum application.

If the government didn't believe the Vangs were worthy of American residence, it should have rejected their application promptly. Instead, the Vangs were trapped in a paperwork maze. Their green cards were renewed annually but their asylum application languished. Shouldn't the government be obliged to act promptly if it seeks to remove people who are working legally, paying taxes, raising a family, and obeying the law?

The Vangs' only hope is legislative relief. They're scheduled to be deported in less than 60 days. Sign a petition.

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  • I don't know (none / 0) (#1)
    by LonewackoDotCom on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 10:01:21 PM EST
    Shouldn't the government be obliged to act promptly if it seeks to remove people who are working legally, paying taxes, raising a family, and obeying the law?

    I don't know. What does the law say? Didn't their lawyer inform them of the laws that applied in their case?

    But, I do know this: if Bush and Kennedy get their way, the whole system is going to get a lot smoother and cases like this will probably never happen again. See, they're going to have to add on a whole new megabureaucracy to deal with legalizing 20 million illegal aliens or so (each within 24 hours). And, because of that, the system is going to finally work.

    a ten year waiting period (none / 0) (#5)
    by Jen M on Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 08:48:14 AM EST
    is what you advocate then? Let them adjust, build a business that employs others, pay taxes, set down roots and grow their family THEN destroy their lives?

    Parent
    Left Unsaid... (none / 0) (#2)
    by jarober on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 10:14:45 PM EST
    Hmm:

    "They and their [first] two children came to the United States from France, the country they fled to after they escaped war in Laos and Vietnam. They got working papers, filed for political asylum and waited."

    Why did they have to flee that area?  Could it be that the Left's successful bid to end the Vietnam War created hell on earth in that region?  The irony is that TChris won't even ponder why they might have had to flee, even as he advocates forcing the same thing on millions of Iraqis.

    I don't very often (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by Edger on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 10:44:08 PM EST
    see truly stupid comments here, but that is a truly... no, an amazingly stupid comment. One that should have been left unsaid. Though I'm glad you said it James - It says more about you than any other comment I've ever seen you make here.

    Parent
    are you insane? (5.00 / 3) (#4)
    by Sailor on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 10:59:49 PM EST
    The irony is that TChris won't even ponder why they might have had to flee, even as he advocates forcing the same thing on millions of Iraqis.
    Bush has forced 2 million iraqis to flee iraq ... and even tho laura sez "We will welcome many of those refugees, both from Iraq and Afghanistan into the United States." the fact is that "since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, the United States admitted only 692 Iraqis, according to Congressional testimony by a State Department official in March."

    TChris didn't force anything. Bush did when he invaded a country that had no WMDs, no ability to harm the US and no connection to 9/11.

    Parent

    The Vangs are French citizens, (none / 0) (#6)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 12:28:34 PM EST
    at least the parents and the two older children are, they are not being persecuted in there.
    Political asylum is granted by the U.S. government to people who can prove that they are afraid to return to their home country [France, in this case] because they have a "well-founded fear of persecution."

    They chose to roll the dice and it came up snake eyes. Actually, they had essentially no chance at all but they decided to try anyway.

    Without question I would let these people stay, based on what we know, and I absolutely feel for their situation, but they chose of their own free will to attempt to gain something of which they had, literally, zero chance of being successful.

    I see your point.... (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 02:16:29 PM EST
    and I think it illustrates the problem with our immigration bueracracy.  You have to play games to get in legally.

    Obviously we have the room for the Vang's, they carved out a niche here in the USA, working hard, employing others...productive members of society by any estimation.  Why make 'em, and others like 'em, jump through hoops?

    Parent

    Yup. From what I googled (none / 0) (#8)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 02:32:32 PM EST
    we're actually one of the most lenient in terms of political asylum as most European countries will only take you in if your country is at war or some such.

    Parent
    no guarantees (none / 0) (#9)
    by katmandu on Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 07:50:14 PM EST
    At least they got to stay for 10 years.
    They were never given any guarantees.
    If their time has run out, its run out.
    They have to return to their country.
    They were just visitors in the US.