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Motion made to free sisters
Legal team tries to win release for Armenian family
Las Vegas Sun
January 21, 2005
By Timothy Pratt ([email protected])
The legal team representing the Sarkisians, an Armenian family whose
teenage daughters are threatened with being deported to their
birthplace, has filed an emergency motion to release the girls from a
Los Angeles immigration detention cell.
"What's the point of detaining them? They're young girls who should be
with their family," said attorney Jeremiah Wolf Stuchiner this morning.
"They're not a flight risk and detaining them is just costing taxpayers
money," he said.
The case involves Emma Sarkisian, 18, and her sister, Mariam Sarkisian,
17. They are threatened with deportation because their immigration
status was never straightened out although they have lived here 14
years, during which time their father, Rouben, has become a U.S.
resident, the step below citizenship -- according to the family and
their attorney.
The Sarkisian family also includes three younger girls who were born on
U.S. soil and therefore are citizens.
The family has been broken up since last week after immigration
authorities arrested the daughters last Friday and sent them to Los
Angeles, where flights to Russia leave once daily.
Stuchiner was able to obtain a stay from the federal magistrate in Las
Vegas, arguing that immigration authorities should wait four months
while Rouben prepares himself to become a citizen.
Once Rouben is a citizen, he can petition for his daughters, and they
can become residents, Stuchiner said.
The attorney said the federal magistrate can decide on the emergency
motion at any time.
Meanwhile, family friend Marina Protopopova said members of the
Sarkisian family are driving today to Los Angeles to seek support from
the Armenian community there.
As of this morning there was also no court date to decide on the larger
issue of whether the daughters should be allowed to stay in the United
States until their father becomes a citizen, Stuchiner said.
"I'm arguing that it is the federal court's discretion and humanitarian
interest to let them stay," Stuchiner said.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2005/jan/21/518162497.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Legal team tries to win release for Armenian family
Las Vegas Sun
January 21, 2005
By Timothy Pratt ([email protected])
The legal team representing the Sarkisians, an Armenian family whose
teenage daughters are threatened with being deported to their
birthplace, has filed an emergency motion to release the girls from a
Los Angeles immigration detention cell.
"What's the point of detaining them? They're young girls who should be
with their family," said attorney Jeremiah Wolf Stuchiner this morning.
"They're not a flight risk and detaining them is just costing taxpayers
money," he said.
The case involves Emma Sarkisian, 18, and her sister, Mariam Sarkisian,
17. They are threatened with deportation because their immigration
status was never straightened out although they have lived here 14
years, during which time their father, Rouben, has become a U.S.
resident, the step below citizenship -- according to the family and
their attorney.
The Sarkisian family also includes three younger girls who were born on
U.S. soil and therefore are citizens.
The family has been broken up since last week after immigration
authorities arrested the daughters last Friday and sent them to Los
Angeles, where flights to Russia leave once daily.
Stuchiner was able to obtain a stay from the federal magistrate in Las
Vegas, arguing that immigration authorities should wait four months
while Rouben prepares himself to become a citizen.
Once Rouben is a citizen, he can petition for his daughters, and they
can become residents, Stuchiner said.
The attorney said the federal magistrate can decide on the emergency
motion at any time.
Meanwhile, family friend Marina Protopopova said members of the
Sarkisian family are driving today to Los Angeles to seek support from
the Armenian community there.
As of this morning there was also no court date to decide on the larger
issue of whether the daughters should be allowed to stay in the United
States until their father becomes a citizen, Stuchiner said.
"I'm arguing that it is the federal court's discretion and humanitarian
interest to let them stay," Stuchiner said.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2005/jan/21/518162497.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress