If you read my blog, I guess that you see that I am a bit biased to the conservative side, however I think that this may be viewed as being in contridiction to my expressed beliefs. However, this is a story of a familyt that has entered our country legally, and is trying to to get in line in the proper fashion. I believe that they should be allowed to stay here and be allowed to follow the process to legally aquire citizenship.
Maha Dakar's fight to keep her family together is headed to Congress.
The Green Township woman, who is facing deportation to Jordan without her family, would move a step closer to a reprieve next week when U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, introduces a "private bill" on her behalf.
The bill is an unusual piece of legislation that allows immigrants who otherwise would be deported to remain in the United States.
Congressional approval of private bills is rare - the previous Congress rejected every one it considered - but Chabot said he is optimistic Dakar's story will persuade his colleagues to make an exception. "It's really just a tragic situation," Chabot said. "As far as we can tell, the family has done nothing wrong. I just don't think they should be penalized."
Dakar's plight has stirred outrage among friends in Green Township and strangers who read about her story last week in The Enquirer. Dakar said the intense public support and Chabot's willingness to help may keep her family together.
"We are really so happy," Dakar said. "Without the community, without the support, we would not be at this point."
The private bill may be her last, best chance because she has exhausted her other options in court and with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
She is facing deportation to Jordan in October, but her husband, Bassam Garadah, cannot go with her. Her four young daughters, all American citizens, can stay with their father or leave with their mother.
The children cannot stay with both parents because of inflexible immigration laws.
Dakar and Garadah entered the United States legally in 1997, applied for asylum and were denied. They have remained here legally while appealing the rejection of their asylum request.
They have since applied for residency status, a first step toward citizenship, but the approval process could take five to seven years.
Dakar, a Palestinian, could be deported by then because she carries a Jordanian passport and can be sent to that country. Garadah, also a Palestinian, carries Egyptian travel papers and is considered "stateless."
Although he also has been deemed deportable, Garadah has no country to go to.
The couple is willing to move to another country, but they have found none willing to take the whole family.
They have tried Kuwait, where they both were born, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Canada. They said Canada seems willing to take them, but the wait to process Dakar's application there also is about five years.
The family turned to Chabot and, more recently, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown for help in delaying Dakar's deportation. Both have expressed concern about the fate of Dakar's children, Basma, 9, Yasmine, 8, Rima, 7, and Dana, 5.
"This case has dramatic consequences for four young children," Brown wrote Friday in a letter to immigration officials.
Brown's letter urged ICE not to deport Dakar. A spokeswoman for the senator said he also is considering introducing a private bill in the Senate on her behalf.
Chabot, who first met the family two years ago, said he was moved to act because the parents entered the country legally, have broken no laws and have continued to report monthly to ICE officials in Columbus. It seems unfair, he said, to split a family that has done nothing wrong.
"The children deserve to be raised by their mother and father," Chabot said. "You've got well-educated people, hard-working people, law-abiding people. I think they should be allowed to stay."
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