Arab American Facing Deportation, Separation From Family
The Arab American News, News Report, Khalil AlHajal, Posted: Jan 19, 2010
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=20ac11c3ee570511ead9e1d8b41e7fe3
DEARBORN,Mich--A Hamtramck man who's been in the U.S. for 27 years is set to be deported next week unless a U.S. Congressman intervenes.
Anees Sous, originally from the West Bank, came to the U.S. on a student visa in 1982 to attend Wayne State University. Though his visa has long been expired, he stayed in the country, raised six U.S.-born children and started a business. He was detained by immigration authorities in 2001 and released on $10,000 bond.
Anees Sous, (second right), a Hamtramck
business owner who's been in the U.S.for 27
years, is set to be deportedto Jordan
on Wednesday, leaving behind six U.S.
-born children, unless a U.S. Congressman intervenes
by introducing a private bill addressing his case.His lawyers have since exhausted every avenue of trying to keep him in the country long enough to establish permanent status, but courts have denied his appeals, forcing him to prepare to leave his wife, home, trucking company and six children, ages 7 to 20, behind. Sous has purchased a Jan. 20 plane ticket to Jordan to fulfill his deportation order. He's unsure what he'll do there or how he'll be treated by Jordanian authorities.
"The worst thing, really, is that my wife, my kids are here. It's the middle of the school year. It's a mess," Sous said.
He acknowledges that he overstayed his visa, but believes his contributions to his community and the country should outweigh having stayed illegally.
"I've been staying here for more than 27 years," Sous said, "paying my taxes, paying my kids' tuition in college and never did anything wrong. And now they're telling me I've got to go. It makes me really angry, sad. Unfair. It's an unfair thing... The judges should really take a look at the big picture. Yes I'm overstaying my visa, but I have six U.S.-born children. "
Sous's lawyer Robert Birach said previous attorneys failed to consolidate the cases of Sous and his wife, who is eligible for permanent resident status. He said authorities have refused to reopen his case to allow the consolidation, which would have likely allowed Sous to stay.
Birach said Sous also admitted to working illegally for a time in 1991, and not declaring all his income to the IRS that year, further complicating his appeals.
Birach said his client paid what he owes in taxes and has raised children with promising futures who still need their father.
"Whatever happened, happened 18 years ago. It shouldn't be held against him now," he said. "It's really a sad story... It breaks up the family... This just flies in the face of everything that's right and good and just about America."
Sous's two oldest daughters graduated from the University of Michigan last month.
"They wanted to go for their master's. But now we stopped because, if I'm not working, how are they gonna pay for tuition?" Sous said. "The youngest ones, they still do not understand it. It's hard. How do you tell a seven year old you're leaving. Sometimes I imagine the day that I'll be leaving. That will be hard."
[Posted by Ida Micaily]
