Immigrants: Same script can have new ending

The scenario is becoming disturbingly familiar, a highly publicized near-tragedy that plays out in three acts.

Act 1: A refugee makes his or her way to America from a country divided by war or plagued by poverty. He or she finds a job, marries a U.S. citizen, and has children. A home is established; a better life made. Years pass.

Act 2: During what has historically been a routine annual check-in with immigration officials, the unsuspecting alien is ordered to buy a one-way ticket out of the United States. The community responds with righteous indignation and outpourings of support. Vigils are held. Politicians show up, express outrage, and pose for the cameras with the affected family.

Act 3: A stay is granted, a case reopened. A deportation order is reversed.

In recent weeks, this has happened to a single mother of four in Norwalk. A father of four in Derby. A father of two in New Fairfield. The list goes on.

Some tried to go through proper channels in their quest for citizenship, but something went wrong. They were given bad legal advice. Their attorney was disbarred. A notice of an impending hearing was never delivered.

The latest deportation debacle involved a Korean immigrant with a husband and two children, one disabled. Jung Courville of Norwalk, an 18-year resident of the United States and primary caregiver to her kids, was ordered to buy her ticket out of the country by the end of the month.

This week, amid community support and political pressure, an immigration judge granted a lawyer’s motion to reopen Courville’s case.

Without question, the judge made the right call. Deporting a woman with no criminal record and two U.S. citizen children is inhumane and unconscionable. As Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) says, “What strategic, economic, public safety or national security purpose does it serve to rip her away from her husband and children and break up her family?”

Still, Jung Courville was lucky. Her community rallied to support her. CONECT, a multi-faith organization of 28 southern Connecticut congregations, orchestrated a well-attended prayer vigil at St. Jerome Catholic Church, where the Courvilles attend services. And more than 100 letters were sent to immigration officials urging that she be allowed to remain with her family, a significant factor in the judge’s decision, according to Courville’s lawyer.

In short, hers was a highprofile case, like that of Nury Chavarria, the Norwalk mother of four from Guatemala who sought sanctuary in a New Haven church before her emergency stay was granted last month.

Both women deserved the support they received. But we can’t help but wonder how their stories might have played out absent the cameras and the congressmen. Take away the packed church or scores of protesters on the New Haven Green and it’s easy to picture a far different ending.

All of which begs the question: How many equally deserving immigrants, taxes paid and dependents supported for 12, 18, 24 years, will be quietly deported out of the cameras’ range?

CATHERINE AVALONE – HEARST CONNECTICUT MEDIA Norwalk resident Nury Chavarria, 34, a single mother of four and a fulltime housekeeper working for the same company for 15 years, fled from Guatemala seeking asylum in 1993 and has lived in Connecticut since.