Handful of Katrina Victims in Deportation
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
The Associated Press
Monday, September 19, 2005

WASHINGTON -- After heeding the Bush administration's call to seek help
regardless of status, a handful of illegal immigrants who fled
Hurricane Katrina have been ordered to appear for deportation hearings.

Three undocumented immigrants were met by immigration agents at the El
Paso, Texas, airport when they were flown in from the Gulf Coast along
with other evacuees, said Leticia Zamarripa, Immigration and Custom
Enforcement spokeswoman in El Paso. A fourth person, a permanent legal
resident, was questioned and released, she said.

The immigrants went through background checks and fingerprinting and
were released with orders to appear for deportation hearings, Zamarripa
said. They were allowed to go to other shelters in Texas, said Ouisa
Davis, an attorney for one of the immigrants. She did not have details,
including the date of the initial questioning.

In another instance, state troopers in West Virginia called in
immigration agents on Sept. 4 when a woman alleged that she was sexually
assaulted by another passenger on a bus carrying evacuees to Camp Dawson, ICE
spokesman Dean Boyd said Monday.

The accused passenger and a companion, both from Central America, were
taken into custody, Boyd said. When ICE officials interviewed the
woman, she refused to press charges or testify. The accused immigrant denied
her allegations. He and his companion remained in custody.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Homeland Security Department
encouraged all storm victims, including illegal immigrants, to seek
help. The appeal was made in English and Spanish.

The agency stopped short of assuring that information about immigration
status would not be shared with law enforcement agencies _ a protection
that was extended after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Senate
Democrats have been pressing for such protection.

In the days after the hurricane, Mexican President Vicente Fox made a
televised appeal, also in English and Spanish, urging Mexican nationals
affected by the storm to seek help. He said U.S. authorities had
assured his government that "those who were not documented at the time will
not be subject to any pressure or persecution whatsoever."

The law enforcement actions have left at least one group concerned
about lending its influence to the federal government's efforts to reach
immigrants affected by the storm.

The White House was "actively communicating to us and the
Spanish-language press that everyone could come forward," said Cecilia Munoz, vice
president of policy for the National Council of La Raza, the largest
U.S.-based Hispanic advocacy group.

"If federal authorities are using this as an enforcement opportunity,
it creates a moral dilemma for us in how do we advise our constituents,"
Munoz said. "We are getting mixed signals."

Munoz said she supports law enforcement action when a crime has been
committed.

On the Net:

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Migration and Refugee Services:


Department of Homeland Security: http://www.dhs.gov

National Council of La Raza: http://www.nclr.org