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Oct 7 2012
Stateless And Stranded On American Samoa
By NPR Staff
For many of us, no matter where we go, we'll always have a home. We'll
always be from somewhere. But what if that somewhere no longer
existed?
That is the strange position in which Mikhail Sebastian finds himself.
Officially, he is from nowhere and has nowhere to go. The 39-year-old
is stateless and stranded on American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the
South Pacific.
Sebastian is an ethnic Armenian born in what is now Azerbaijan, but
back then was part of the Soviet Union. When war broke out in the late
1980s, Sebastian says his aunt was stoned to death and he fled.
He tried to take refuge in Armenia, but couldn't stay. "Armenia was
overloaded with all the Armenian refugees coming from Azerbaijan," he
tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "Basically, they
did not recognize you as Armenian if you don't speak Armenian and you
don't know your culture."
He wound up in Turkmenistan, but not for long. Male homosexuality is
outlawed there, and Sebastian is gay.
He made it to the United States in 1995 on a work visa and applied for
political asylum. It was denied, and Sebastian was ordered to leave.
With a Soviet passport that was invalid by then, Mikhail says he had
nowhere to go. So he stayed and eventually was arrested and jailed for
six months.
"When they released me in February 2003, they told me that 'We know
you are stateless and there is no country in the world that will be
able to take you.'" Sebastian was given a work permit and he built a
life here in the U.S. He took courses in business administration and
travel management, and found a job that he loved, working as a barista
in Los Angeles.
But there was a condition tied to his residency.
"I am a stateless person and I knew I was not allowed to travel
outside the United States," he says. If he did, he would not be
allowed back in.
Sebastian adores traveling, so he contented himself exploring
far-flung U.S. territories like Guam and Puerto Rico.
Then last December, he decided to take a New Year's trip.
"I was thinking about other places within the United states that I
never explored before. And it came up to American Samoa," he says. "I
went to Los Angeles immigration office and I asked them if I will be
able to go to American Samoa, and the guy checked my documents and he
said, 'You're okay to go.'"
So Sebastian went and spent a few days sight-seeing and hiking. Then
he says he was advised to see "the other side of Samoa, which is
western Samoa. But at that time I had no idea that western Samoa was
an independent nation."
Sebastian took a quick flight over and spent a short amount of time
there, then flew back to American Samoa. But when he tried to board a
flight back home to L.A., he was barred. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement said he had self-deported.
"In 2002, an immigration judge with the Department of Justice's
Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Sebastian to depart
the United States," ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a
statement. "In December 2011 when Mr. Sebastian traveled to American
Samoa and Samoa, he was prohibited from returning to the United States
due to the immigration judge's order."
ICE maintains the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) applies to the
United States and its territories, except for American Samoa, which
has its own immigration system.
So for nearly a year now, Sebastian has been biding his time on an
island that's about the size of Washington D.C. Local law prevents him
from finding work. He's staying with a local family and the American
Samoan government gives him $50 a week to get by.
"I come to McDonald's every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. because that is
the only place I can use the wi-fi and to connect to my friends and to
ask for help."
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
taken up his case. American Samoa's delegate to Congress, Eni
Faleomavaega, is asking the Department of Homeland Security to let
Sebastian back into the U.S.
For his part, Sebastian says while it has been tough living in limbo
on the island, he has not given up hope.
"I lived 16 years in the United States and the United States is the
only home and country I know. And I don't have any other place to go,
I really don't."
http://www.gpb.org/news/2012/10/07/stateless-and-stranded-on-american-samoa
Oct 7 2012
Stateless And Stranded On American Samoa
By NPR Staff
For many of us, no matter where we go, we'll always have a home. We'll
always be from somewhere. But what if that somewhere no longer
existed?
That is the strange position in which Mikhail Sebastian finds himself.
Officially, he is from nowhere and has nowhere to go. The 39-year-old
is stateless and stranded on American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the
South Pacific.
Sebastian is an ethnic Armenian born in what is now Azerbaijan, but
back then was part of the Soviet Union. When war broke out in the late
1980s, Sebastian says his aunt was stoned to death and he fled.
He tried to take refuge in Armenia, but couldn't stay. "Armenia was
overloaded with all the Armenian refugees coming from Azerbaijan," he
tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "Basically, they
did not recognize you as Armenian if you don't speak Armenian and you
don't know your culture."
He wound up in Turkmenistan, but not for long. Male homosexuality is
outlawed there, and Sebastian is gay.
He made it to the United States in 1995 on a work visa and applied for
political asylum. It was denied, and Sebastian was ordered to leave.
With a Soviet passport that was invalid by then, Mikhail says he had
nowhere to go. So he stayed and eventually was arrested and jailed for
six months.
"When they released me in February 2003, they told me that 'We know
you are stateless and there is no country in the world that will be
able to take you.'" Sebastian was given a work permit and he built a
life here in the U.S. He took courses in business administration and
travel management, and found a job that he loved, working as a barista
in Los Angeles.
But there was a condition tied to his residency.
"I am a stateless person and I knew I was not allowed to travel
outside the United States," he says. If he did, he would not be
allowed back in.
Sebastian adores traveling, so he contented himself exploring
far-flung U.S. territories like Guam and Puerto Rico.
Then last December, he decided to take a New Year's trip.
"I was thinking about other places within the United states that I
never explored before. And it came up to American Samoa," he says. "I
went to Los Angeles immigration office and I asked them if I will be
able to go to American Samoa, and the guy checked my documents and he
said, 'You're okay to go.'"
So Sebastian went and spent a few days sight-seeing and hiking. Then
he says he was advised to see "the other side of Samoa, which is
western Samoa. But at that time I had no idea that western Samoa was
an independent nation."
Sebastian took a quick flight over and spent a short amount of time
there, then flew back to American Samoa. But when he tried to board a
flight back home to L.A., he was barred. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement said he had self-deported.
"In 2002, an immigration judge with the Department of Justice's
Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Sebastian to depart
the United States," ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said in a
statement. "In December 2011 when Mr. Sebastian traveled to American
Samoa and Samoa, he was prohibited from returning to the United States
due to the immigration judge's order."
ICE maintains the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) applies to the
United States and its territories, except for American Samoa, which
has its own immigration system.
So for nearly a year now, Sebastian has been biding his time on an
island that's about the size of Washington D.C. Local law prevents him
from finding work. He's staying with a local family and the American
Samoan government gives him $50 a week to get by.
"I come to McDonald's every day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. because that is
the only place I can use the wi-fi and to connect to my friends and to
ask for help."
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
taken up his case. American Samoa's delegate to Congress, Eni
Faleomavaega, is asking the Department of Homeland Security to let
Sebastian back into the U.S.
For his part, Sebastian says while it has been tough living in limbo
on the island, he has not given up hope.
"I lived 16 years in the United States and the United States is the
only home and country I know. And I don't have any other place to go,
I really don't."
http://www.gpb.org/news/2012/10/07/stateless-and-stranded-on-american-samoa