Las Vegas Sun, NV
Jan 21 2005

Motion made to free sisters

Legal team tries to win release for Armenian family
By Timothy Pratt

The legal team representing the Sarkisians, an Armenian family whose
teenage daughters are threatened with being deported to their
birthplace, has filed an emergency motion to release the girls from a
Los Angeles immigration detention cell.

“What’s the point of detaining them? They’re young girls who should
be with their family,” said attorney Jeremiah Wolf Stuchiner this
morning.

“They’re not a flight risk and detaining them is just costing
taxpayers money,” he said.

The case involves Emma Sarkisian, 18, and her sister, Mariam
Sarkisian, 17. They are threatened with deportation because their
immigration status was never straightened out although they have
lived here 14 years, during which time their father, Rouben, has
become a U.S. resident, the step below citizenship — according to
the family and their attorney.

The Sarkisian family also includes three younger girls who were born
on U.S. soil and therefore are citizens.

The family has been broken up since last week after immigration
authorities arrested the daughters last Friday and sent them to Los
Angeles, where flights to Russia leave once daily.

Stuchiner was able to obtain a stay from the federal magistrate in
Las Vegas, arguing that immigration authorities should wait four
months while Rouben prepares himself to become a citizen.

Once Rouben is a citizen, he can petition for his daughters, and they
can become residents, Stuchiner said.

The attorney said the federal magistrate can decide on the emergency
motion at any time.

Meanwhile, family friend Marina Protopopova said members of the
Sarkisian family are driving today to Los Angeles to seek support
from the Armenian community there.

As of this morning there was also no court date to decide on the
larger issue of whether the daughters should be allowed to stay in
the United States until their father becomes a citizen, Stuchiner
said.

“I’m arguing that it is the federal court’s discretion and
humanitarian interest to let them stay,” Stuchiner said.