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Suddenly, the argument that we should kick out those "illegal aliens" tends to go flat when we find that they're real people with real families and real jobs who support a real economy and are all too often trying to learn to survive the bureaucratic jungle known as immigration law. My heart goes out to this woman and her family, and I pray that the government begins to see the error in its ways.<br><br>Keely<br><br><br><br><br>> From: suehovey@moscow.com<br>> To: vision2020@moscow.com; thansen@moscow.com<br>> Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 00:54:18 -0700<br>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ex-UI Researcher Faces Deportation<br>> <br>> God. How awful. Wonder when this will come out in our local press. I <br>> didn't even see it in the Trib today.<br>> <br>> Sue H<br>> ----- Original Message ----- <br>> From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen@moscow.com><br>> To: <vision2020@moscow.com><br>> Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2008 1:59 PM<br>> Subject: [Vision2020] Ex-UI Researcher Faces Deportation<br>> <br>> <br>> > "'She's a damn good scientist,' said Patricia Hartzell, professor of<br>> > biology and biochemistry and former dean of Dziewanowska's<br>> > department. 'She's really good.'<br>> ><br>> > Her husband is studying a toxin found in sheep and cattle that shows<br>> > promise in fighting retroviral diseases. Such diseases include AIDS in<br>> > humans and a host of diseases in animals, and there is currently no cure<br>> > or vaccine for them."<br>> ><br>> >>From today's (August 3, 2008) Spokesman Review -<br>> ><br>> > -------------------------------------------------------<br>> ><br>> > Ex-UI researcher faces deportation<br>> > By Shawn Vestal, Staff writer<br>> > August 4, 2008<br>> ><br>> > Katarzyna Dziewanowska grew up in the "gray communist life" of Poland.<br>> ><br>> > But it was in America where she found a truly nightmarish experience with<br>> > a bureaucracy.<br>> ><br>> > After nearly 14 years as a researcher at the University of Idaho,<br>> > Dziewanowska has been denied permanent residency by U.S. immigration<br>> > officials, who say she worked without authorization for eight months. She<br>> > did that, she and her attorneys say, on the advice of the UI, and she quit<br>> > working for a time when the university advised her to do so.<br>> ><br>> > But her appeals have fallen on deaf ears with immigration officials. She'd<br>> > like to take the case before an immigration judge, but that could take<br>> > months or years. In the meantime, she can't work and has no legal<br>> > residency status. Because it is a family application, her husband - a UI<br>> > researcher studying a promising treatment of retroviruses - can no longer<br>> > receive grants. Her son can't apply for a free-tuition program through his<br>> > employer.<br>> ><br>> > "She has no legal status," said Michael Cherasia, her former<br>> > attorney. "She's not able to legally work. Certainly she can't continue to<br>> > do her research. (Agents) could come to her door any morning, arrest her,<br>> > detain her and ship her out of the country."<br>> ><br>> > The rejection of her petition is part of a long pattern of bureaucratic<br>> > communications straight out of Kafka. Her application for residency<br>> > languished for years, status unknown. Frequently, neither Dziewanowska,<br>> > her attorneys nor her colleagues could reach officials in person to<br>> > discuss the case, they say. Seeking information about her case, she once<br>> > called a number she found at an agency Web site; the person who answered<br>> > could only provide information from the Web site.<br>> ><br>> > "They eventually put me in a situation where you start to feel like a<br>> > criminal, when you don't have any intention to break the law," said<br>> > Dziewanowska, 64.<br>> ><br>> > Her supporters say that Dziewanowska's brief period of unauthorized work<br>> > was a simple error, and that her record as a researcher and visiting<br>> > worker should count in her favor. She's been without work since October.<br>> ><br>> > "This is kind of an 'Alice in Wonderland' experience," said Cherasia, who<br>> > specializes in immigration law. "The frustrating thing with this case is<br>> > there has been no way to correct a simple, unintentional mistake."<br>> > The "sad, sad joke about all this," he says, is that Dziewanowska and her<br>> > husband, Witold Ferens, are doing important, possibly breakthrough<br>> > research.<br>> ><br>> > Dziewanowska was recruited to the UI in 1994 because of her research<br>> > background, and she's been involved in studying methods of fighting agents<br>> > of bioterrorism such as the plague.<br>> ><br>> > She's earned FBI clearance for that research - at one point, she was<br>> > granted such clearance while immigration officials were refusing to<br>> > approve her authorization to work.<br>> ><br>> > "She's a damn good scientist," said Patricia Hartzell, professor of<br>> > biology and biochemistry and former dean of Dziewanowska's<br>> > department. "She's really good."<br>> ><br>> > Her husband is studying a toxin found in sheep and cattle that shows<br>> > promise in fighting retroviral diseases. Such diseases include AIDS in<br>> > humans and a host of diseases in animals, and there is currently no cure<br>> > or vaccine for them.<br>> ><br>> > "These are the kind of people you want to kick out of the country?"<br>> > Cherasia said. "Somebody isn't thinking. They had the discretion to<br>> > approve her petition, and they refused."<br>> ><br>> > A representative of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said she<br>> > could not discuss specific cases, but said the agency makes information<br>> > available to applicants online and via telephone, and said people can make<br>> > appointments to discuss their case in person.<br>> ><br>> > "We make all the information about immigration laws very accessible," said<br>> > Sharon Rummery, USCIS spokeswoman in San Francisco.<br>> ><br>> > No answers from the UI<br>> ><br>> > Top administrators at the UI would not answer questions about<br>> > Dziewanowska's case, or about whether university representatives provided<br>> > her with faulty advice. The university's media-relations office released a<br>> > general statement, saying that it has obligations to the government when<br>> > accepting foreign students and faculty, but that the ultimate<br>> > responsibility lies with the individuals.<br>> ><br>> > "In instances where an application for permanent residency has been filed,<br>> > the university must confirm employment and other information," the<br>> > statement reads. "However, we do not and cannot make immigration-related<br>> > decisions for or on behalf of individuals and their immigration status."<br>> ><br>> > Under immigration law, if an employer gives incorrect advice to an<br>> > employee, the responsibility for following the law still rests with the<br>> > worker. But foreign-born employees often rely on universities to help<br>> > negotiate the labyrinth of immigration law.<br>> ><br>> > The UI was involved at virtually every stage of her dealings with<br>> > immigration officials, and it filed several applications on her behalf.<br>> > Dziewanowska says she simply relied on the university's human-rights<br>> > department about when she was approved to work and when she was not.<br>> ><br>> > Hartzell and others have appealed to members of Congress to intervene on<br>> > Dziewanowska's behalf. She's also pressed the university administration to<br>> > acknowledge its mistake, in an effort to help with Dziewanowska's appeals.<br>> ><br>> > "They've really washed their hands of the case," Hartzell said. "They're<br>> > just protecting themselves legally all the time, instead of doing the<br>> > right thing."<br>> ><br>> > 'My big mistake'<br>> ><br>> > Dziewanowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1943, in the midst of attacks<br>> > and occupations by both Germany and the Soviet Union. She grew up under<br>> > the communist regime that arose after World War II, and entered academia<br>> > after earning her master's at the University of Warsaw in 1966.<br>> ><br>> > Over the next few decades, she built her research career between positions<br>> > in Poland, Canada and the U.S. By the early 1990s, she was recruited to<br>> > the UI to help with plant-breeding research.<br>> ><br>> > She came to the Palouse in 1994 - "maybe my big mistake," she said.<br>> ><br>> > She worked on a visa for a few years, and then applied for status as an<br>> > outstanding professor or researcher - a precursor to applying for<br>> > permanent residency and a green card. She was granted outstanding<br>> > researcher status and, with help from the UI, applied for permanent<br>> > residency in 2003.<br>> ><br>> > While that application was considered, she was required to apply for<br>> > annual temporary work permits, known as Employment Authorization<br>> > Documents. In the fall of 2004, a problem arose with her second EAD<br>> > application.<br>> ><br>> > Based on new requirements, Dziewanowska's application was rejected twice.<br>> > The first one came because she submitted a profile photo instead of a <br>> > face-<br>> > forward one, because standards had changed after she filed an application<br>> > under the previous rules. The second occurred because her second photo<br>> > included glare on one lens of her glasses.<br>> ><br>> > The letter notifying her of the second rejection came in September<br>> > 2004. "There is no appeal to this decision," the letter read.<br>> ><br>> > Meanwhile, her previous EAD had expired, but the UI's human rights office<br>> > told Dziewanowska she had a 240-day grace period in which she could<br>> > continue to work, according to Dziewanowska, Cherasia and e-mail<br>> > communications from the UI.<br>> ><br>> > Cherasia said university representatives simply mixed up the rules - one<br>> > type of work visa does have a grace period after expiration, but EADs do<br>> > not.<br>> ><br>> > "If you have an EAD, and your EAD runs out, you have to quit working,<br>> > period," he said. "I think someone got the two mixed up."<br>> ><br>> > So, as Dziewanowska worked to clear up the problem, she continued her<br>> > research at the UI. At this point, she was involved with research on the<br>> > plague - a subject of great concern to federal officials concerned about<br>> > bioterrorism. Her work was a crucial first step in the process - purifying<br>> > the proteins from the plague for later research steps.<br>> ><br>> > She did this work over the next several months. In the meantime, through a<br>> > convoluted series of communications, she was told that her application had<br>> > been improperly denied and would be approved. Then she was told that the<br>> > original denial would stand. Then, in April 2005, she was told to stop<br>> > working by the UI, which said her grace period had expired.<br>> ><br>> > "So I stopped work on April 10," she said.<br>> ><br>> > In the meantime, she filed another EAD application - "New photograph, with<br>> > no glare!" she said - and it was approved.<br>> ><br>> > But when her application for permanent residency was eventually denied<br>> > last June, it was the period of "unauthorized employment" that was cited<br>> > as the reason.<br>> ><br>> > 'No room for mistakes'<br>> ><br>> > Throughout the process, Dziewanowska had urged UI to retain an immigration<br>> > lawyer to help with the case and been told it wasn't necessary, she said.<br>> > She eventually hired Cherasia on her own, and he filed a motion to have<br>> > the case reconsidered. It was rejected in March.<br>> ><br>> > "It was a real brush-off," he said.<br>> ><br>> > There was little rationale offered for the decision, he said, though<br>> > immigration officials have said that as a university professor,<br>> > Dziewanowska should be able to follow the laws. She now has hired Maria<br>> > Andrade, a Boise attorney who specializes in "removal" cases, but she's in<br>> > a nebulous position.<br>> ><br>> > Once someone's application for residency is rejected, the next step is to<br>> > be ordered to court before an immigration judge. But that could take a<br>> > long time - perhaps years - and in the meantime, Dziewanowska has no way<br>> > to earn a living. She's a year away from retirement, and she and her<br>> > husband have a new home in Moscow. She's not sure what she's going to do<br>> > now.<br>> ><br>> > "I never tried to break the law," she said. "I tried to play according to<br>> > the rules."<br>> ><br>> > Her attorney, Andrade, said it's unfortunate that the university hasn't<br>> > stepped forward to take more responsibility. But even if it did, the<br>> > burden for meeting the laws would still fall to Dziewanowska.<br>> ><br>> > "On the immigration side, there's no room for good-faith mistakes in the<br>> > law, and this is one of them," she said. "It's a sad case. It's a very sad<br>> > case."<br>> ><br>> > -------------------------------------------------------<br>> ><br>> > It really makes you wonder, doesn't it?<br>> ><br>> > Just another undocumented worker, right guys?<br>> ><br>> > Seeya round town, Moscow.<br>> ><br>> > Tom Hansen<br>> > Moscow, Idaho<br>> ><br>> > "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college<br>> > students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."<br>> ><br>> > - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)<br>> ><br>> ><br>> > ---------------------------------------------<br>> > This message was sent by First Step Internet.<br>> > http://www.fsr.com/<br>> ><br>> ><br>> ><br>> <br>> <br>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>> <br>> <br>> > =======================================================<br>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> > http://www.fsr.net<br>> > mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> > ======================================================= <br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />Reveal your inner athlete and share it with friends on Windows Live. <a href='http://revealyourinnerathlete.windowslive.com?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WLYIA_whichathlete_us' target='_new'>Share now!</a></body>
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