Done with high school and deported?

[Fischkoepfin 1]

From today's NY Times:

April 26, 2006

Student's Prize Is a Trip Into Immigration Limbo

By NINA BERNSTEIN

A small, troubled high school in East Harlem seemed an unlikely place to find students for a nationwide robot-building contest, but when a neighborhood after-school program started a team last winter, 19 students signed up. One was Amadou Ly, a senior who had been fending for himself since he was 14.

The project had only one computer and no real work space. Engineering advice came from an elevator mechanic and a machinist's son without a college degree. But in an upset that astonished its sponsors, the rookie team from East Harlem won the regional competition last month, beating rivals from elite schools like Stuyvesant in Manhattan and the Bronx High School of Science for a chance to compete in the national robotics finals in Atlanta that begins tomorrow.

Yet for Amadou, who helps operate the robot the team built, success has come at a price. As the group prepared for the flight to Atlanta today, he was forced to reveal his secret: He is an illegal immigrant from Senegal, with no ID to allow him to board a plane. Left here long ago by his mother, he has no way to attend the college that has accepted him, and only a slim chance to win his two-year court battle against deportation.

In the end, his fate could hinge on immigration legislation now being debated in Congress. Several Senate bills include a pathway for successful high school graduates to earn legal status. But a measure passed by the House of Representatives would make his presence in the United States a felony, and both House and Senate bills would curtail the judicial review that allows exceptions to deportation.

Meanwhile, the team's sponsors scrambled to put him on a train yesterday afternoon for a separate 18-hour journey to join his teammates from Central Park East High School at the Georgia Dome. There, more than 8,500 high school students will participate in the competition, called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) by its sponsor, a nonprofit organization that aims to make applied sciences as exciting to children as sports.

"I didn't want other people to know," said Amadou, 18, referring to his illegal status. "They're all U.S. citizens but me."

Most team members learned of his problem only yesterday at a meeting with Kristian Breton, 27, the staff member at the East Harlem Tutorial program who started the team, inspired by his own experience in the competition when he was a high school student in rural Mountain Home, Ark.

Alan Hodge, 18, echoed the general dismay. "We can't really celebrate all the way because it's not going to feel whole as a team without Amadou," he said.

Amadou's teammates have struggled with obstacles of their own. When Mr. Breton called a meeting of parents to collect permission slips last week, only five showed up. One boy's mother had a terminal illness, Mr. Breton learned. Another mother lived in the Dominican Republic, leaving an older sibling to manage the household. One of the six girls on the team said her divorced parents disagreed about letting her go, and her mother, who was willing to approve the trip, lacked the $4 subway fare to get to the meeting.

But Amadou's case stands out. As he tells it, with corroboration from immigration records and other documents, he was 13 and spoke no English when his mother brought him to New York from Dakar on Sept. 10, 2001. He was 14 when she went back, leaving him behind in the hope that he could continue his American education.

By then, he had finished ninth grade at Norman Thomas High School in a program for students learning English as a second language. But his mother left instruction for him to take a Greyhound bus to Indianapolis, where a Senegalese woman friend had agreed to take him in and send him to North Central High School there.

"It was the same thing when I was in Africa," he said, describing a childhood spent shuttling between his grandmother and the household of his father, a retired police officer with 12 children and three wives.

The woman in Indiana, who had four children of her own, changed her mind about keeping him after his sophomore year, and he returned by bus to New York in the summer of 2004. "I had to find a way to help myself for food and clothes, and to buy some of my school supplies," he said, recalling days handing out fliers for a clothing store on a Manhattan street corner. "I ended up living with another friend — I'm under age and I can't live alone."

Taking shelter with a taxi driver, a friend of the family who could sign his report cards, Amadou enrolled in 11th grade at Central Park East. Under longstanding Supreme Court decisions, children have a right to a public education regardless of their immigration status, and in New York, as in many other cities, a "don't ask, don't tell" approach to legal status has prevailed for years.

But after the 9/11 attacks, practices around the country changed. On a rainy highway in Pennsylvania on Nov. 7, 2004, Amadou met a very different attitude when he had the bad luck to be a passenger in a car rear-ended by a truck. The state trooper who responded questioned his passport and school ID, and summoned federal immigration officers, who began deportation proceedings.

There is no right to a court-appointed lawyer in immigration court, and though Amadou's friends hired one for him at first, records show that the lawyer soon withdrew. "We really couldn't afford to pay," Amadou explained.

By the time the case was finally sent to a special juvenile docket in federal court after several adjournments, Amadou had already turned 18, closing off some legal options that can lead to a green card for juveniles, said Amy Meselson, a Legal Aid lawyer who took on the case last week.

At this point, she said, his best chance is probably a long shot: a measure included in an amendment to many Senate immigration bills, known as the Dream Act, which offers a path to citizenship to young people of good character who have lived in the United States for five years, been accepted to college, or earned a high school diploma or the equivalent.

Opponents say the measure will encourage illegal immigrants, and subsidize their education at the expense of American children and their taxpaying parents.

But mentors for Amadou's team, which calls itself "East Harlem Tech," seem to have no ear for such arguments.

"He's been a hard-working and diligent student with mathematical ability and a scientific mind," said Rhonda Creed-Harry, a math teacher at Central Park East. But though he has been accepted at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, he said he could not attend because he does not qualify for financial aid.

Ramon Padilla, a team mentor who stopped a year short of a college degree himself and now works in the audio-visual department at Columbia University, called the news that Amadou faced deportation "overwhelming."

"I'm telling you, he's a great kid, a very talented kid," he said, adding that Amadou played an important role in building the robot, with help from Frank Sierra, a buddy of Mr. Padilla who repairs elevators. Starting from a standard set of parts, each team had six weeks to design a robot that could move down a center line and throw balls into a goal. In the last round of the competition, Amadou helped his team form a winning alliance with teams from Morris High School in the Bronx and Staten Island Tech, which both advanced to the finals as well.

Mr. Breton, who made last-minute trips to the Bronx to gather parental permissions, said he was determined not to leave Amadou behind. "I started with 19 people, and I want to take 19 people to Atlanta," he told the student. "I want to make sure that everybody has the full opportunity, because I feel you've earned it."

Amadou returned the compliment. "Because of him, it happened," he said.

Yet on the train to Atlanta, accompanied by another staff member, Amadou was still worried. Bloomberg L.P., which is underwriting the full cost of the team's trip to Atlanta, plans to display its robot at the company's headquarters in New York and invite the team up to celebrate their achievement. He said he was afraid that for lack of the right ID he might be turned away from the building.

I feel sorry for the kid. After all he didn't come by himself but was dragged over by his mom who the left him to fend for himself...

[pax 0]

Yes, there has to be some kind of safety valve for immigrant children who had no say in being brought--or illegally left--here.

He sounds like a good kid. I remember reading the initial story about the East Harlem team; kids like him need all the encouragement and support they can get.

[Kajikit 65]

He's not the only one... there are thousands of illegal immigrant children and teenagers in the US. Their parents thought they'd have a better education/better chances of survival in the US... so here they are and they're okay until they hit eighteen and/or graduate from highschool when they discover that they're not allowed to work, not eligible for any kind of student loans or financial assistance to pay for college, and in a lot of cases not even eligible for scholarships... I feel really sorry for them and think there's got to be some way for them to become legal - I honestly think they've earned it by their hard work at school, and good behaviour as members of society. ie. if they want to drop out of school, join gangs, become unwed mothers etc they don't seem to have what it takes to be an asset to the country. These kids have a lot to contribute to the world and their futures are being stolen from them by bureaucracy

They didn't get any say about where they wanted to live - somebody brought them here, often when they were a toddler or infant. You can't take somebody whos spent their entire life in the US and say 'sorry, you have to go home now' because the US IS their home!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Meanwhile people wonder why young folks from many countries are not granted a visitor visa when applying for one. That's why.

That said, yes, kids should have a way of staying here and integrating. However, I would stongly oppose such kids subsequently sponsoring their parents who abandoned them here. Otherwise, we'll be opening a whole new can of worms.

[pax 0]

Meanwhile people wonder why young folks from many countries are not granted a visitor visa when applying for one. That's why.

That said, yes, kids should have a way of staying here and integrating. However, I would stongly oppose such kids subsequently sponsoring their parents who abandoned them here. Otherwise, we'll be opening a whole new can of worms.

Yes, there would need to be controls on that too.

I feel differently about children illegally present here than I do about adults. Children had no choice about coming or staying here. If children are abandoned by their parents here, they can't simply pack up and go home. Children are typically much more eager and ready to integrate. There has to be a way for a sound, fair immigration policy to protect children who were brought here illegally.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Meanwhile people wonder why young folks from many countries are not granted a visitor visa when applying for one. That's why.

That said, yes, kids should have a way of staying here and integrating. However, I would stongly oppose such kids subsequently sponsoring their parents who abandoned them here. Otherwise, we'll be opening a whole new can of worms.

Yes, there would need to be controls on that too.

I feel differently about children illegally present here than I do about adults. Children had no choice about coming or staying here. If children are abandoned by their parents here, they can't simply pack up and go home. Children are typically much more eager and ready to integrate. There has to be a way for a sound, fair immigration policy to protect children who were brought here illegally.

They should definitely get rid of the age-out policy, as this case shows. His case didn't get heard because it took them too long and now he's too old to qualify for any of the measures in place to help illegal adolescents.

As to abandoned illegal children becoming citizens and sponsoring their parents, while that could happen, it seems weird. I would just be mad at them for putting me into the situation in the first place. But I agree, the parents should not qualify for family immigration and if it's just because of abandoning their underage children.

[chocolaterie 0]

this is just awful. he was basically orphaned.

[Jasman0717 8]

He's not the only one... there are thousands of illegal immigrant children and teenagers in the US. Their parents thought they'd have a better education/better chances of survival in the US... so here they are and they're okay until they hit eighteen and/or graduate from highschool when they discover that they're not allowed to work, not eligible for any kind of student loans or financial assistance to pay for college, and in a lot of cases not even eligible for scholarships... I feel really sorry for them and think there's got to be some way for them to become legal - I honestly think they've earned it by their hard work at school, and good behaviour as members of society. ie. if they want to drop out of school, join gangs, become unwed mothers etc they don't seem to have what it takes to be an asset to the country. These kids have a lot to contribute to the world and their futures are being stolen from them by bureaucracy

They didn't get any say about where they wanted to live - somebody brought them here, often when they were a toddler or infant. You can't take somebody whos spent their entire life in the US and say 'sorry, you have to go home now' because the US IS their home!

[almaty 19]

well, i think it is a ####### for that youngster...

[sukie175 0]

Hey Fisch - how was the POE - CONGRATS

[Ban Hammer 12,861]

this one kid listed in the above story sounds like he'll be a worthwhile, contributing member of society. let's keep him. however, if others with similar circumstances (being abandoned) have a rap sheet a mile long, do we really need to have a bleeding heart for them? i don't see a point in keeping other countries criminals.

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Hey Fisch - how was the POE - CONGRATS

POE was good, I guess. I went first through the visitors line and the guy who worked there was really grumpy. He told me to wait until someone came to pick me up, which happened about 30 minutes later. Then I waited at the new immigrant window. There were two families in front of me, which took a little bit because they all needed to sign and fingerprint some form. One of them had lost the immigrant information sheet which made my wait longer. But once I was called up it was quick and easy. Sign, fingerprint, stamp, done. The best part of a long journey (except of course, seeing my husband when I finally made it through customs.

[almaty 19]

Hey Fisch - how was the POE - CONGRATS

POE was good, I guess. I went first through the visitors line and the guy who worked there was really grumpy. He told me to wait until someone came to pick me up, which happened about 30 minutes later. Then I waited at the new immigrant window. There were two families in front of me, which took a little bit because they all needed to sign and fingerprint some form. One of them had lost the immigrant information sheet which made my wait longer. But once I was called up it was quick and easy. Sign, fingerprint, stamp, done. The best part of a long journey (except of course, seeing my husband when I finally made it through customs.

i am glad it went well

[Fischkoepfin 1]

Hey Fisch - how was the POE - CONGRATS

POE was good, I guess. I went first through the visitors line and the guy who worked there was really grumpy. He told me to wait until someone came to pick me up, which happened about 30 minutes later. Then I waited at the new immigrant window. There were two families in front of me, which took a little bit because they all needed to sign and fingerprint some form. One of them had lost the immigrant information sheet which made my wait longer. But once I was called up it was quick and easy. Sign, fingerprint, stamp, done. The best part of a long journey (except of course, seeing my husband when I finally made it through customs.

i am glad it went well

Thanks, Dean.

[ChristinaM 0]

It's sad, really very sad. But where does one draw the line?