FEINSTEIN DEBUTS BILL TO HALT MKOYAN DEPORTATION
By Brad Branan and Vanessa Colon
Fresno Bee, CA
June 11 2008
Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill today seeking to halt
deportation proceedings against Arthur Mkoyan, the valedictorian at
Fresno’s Bullard High School.
Arthur, whose case has attracted national attention, is graduating from
high school today. Arthur has been planning to attend the University
of California at Davis, where he has been accepted.
Feinstein’s bill also applies to Arthur’s mother and father, who is
being held in detention in Arizona, said Scott Gerber, a Feinstein
spokesman. Arthur’s 12-year-old brother is a U.S. citizen because he
was born here, Gerber said.
In a prepared statement, Feinstein said: "This is a family that has
deep roots in the community and has worked hard. The children have
excelled in school. So I am introducing a private bill to ensure that
they can stay in this country."
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Arthur and his
mother to leave the United States by late June and return to Armenia,
a country Arthur hasn’t seen since he was 2. Arthur’s family fled
the former Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992.
Getting bills passed to avoid deportations are an "uphill battle,"
Gerber said, but "we’re going to work to see that it is passed." The
bill will effectively suspend the deportation proceedings until
Congress makes a decision on the legislation, he said.
Photo: Arthur Mkoyan receives a loving touch from his
mother at Tuesday’s Bullard High graduation, where Arthur was
valedictorian. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Tuesday introduced a bill
that would block the deportation of Arthur and his parents to Armenia.
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