EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 3:00PM

[paineinthearse]

EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION
AGAINST HOMELAND SECURITY AND THE DEPORTATION OF OBAIN ATTOUOMAN

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2
3:00 PM
JFK FEDERAL BUILDING, GOVERNMENT CENTER

FENWAY HIGH SCHOOL IS ASKING THE ACTIVIST COMMUNITY OF BOSTON TO COME
TO DEMONSTRATE THEIR OUTRAGE THIS WEDNESDAY 3PM @ THE JFK FEDERAL BUILDING IN GOVERNMENT CENTER AT THE PROPOSED DEPORTATION OF OBAIN ATTOUOMAN, A TEACHER AT FENWAY HIGH SCHOOL AND THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR 10 YEARS. IF WE DON'T STOP THIS INJUSTICE THIS WEEK OBAIN MAY BE DEPORTED THIS WEEKEND!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY ACTIVISTS AND ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS AS YOU CAN.

THIS IS AN ISSUE OF JUSTICE AND RACIAL JUSTICE. OBAIN IS FROM THE
IVORY COAST SEEKING POLITICAL ASYLUM. OF THE 400 INDIVIDUALS INCARCERATED LAST YEAR WHILE OBAIN WAS BEING DETAINED ON A MINOR VISA PROBLEM ONLY 2 WHERE NOT PEOPLE OF COLOR. THIS YEAR...THE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT IS ALSO TRYING TO DEPORT REFUGEES FROM THE MONTSERRAT VOLCANO EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NOWHERE TO GO IF SENT BACK TO MONTSERRAT.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OBAIN VISIT THE FENWAY HIGH SCHOOL WEBSITE:
HTTP://FENWAY.BOSTON.K12.MA.US

[ohkay]

1. Looks like it worked

temporarily.

I can't beleive I agree with mittens on something!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/03/03/teacher_granted_delay_in_deportation/

[paineinthearse]

2. A small victory!!!!!

"U.S. Sen. John Kerry's office said the department granted the reprieve to Obain Attouoman, who was due to be deported Friday. Kerry, Gov. Mitt Romney and other elected officials had asked for a review of Attouoman's case. His students and colleagues have lobbied officials to allow him to remain in the country.

"The delay is expected to give senators enough time to formally request a report from the Department of Homeland Security, effectively stalling his deportation until the end of this Congress in October 2006.

JFK :yourock:

[rox63]

3. Fantastic news!

It's great that folks were able to pull together on this one. Special thanks to JK, a real uniter.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. Really?

;-)

[paineinthearse]

5. Globe editorial: Justice for an immigrant

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2005/03/04/justice_for_an_immigrant/

Justice for an immigrant
March 4, 2005

IN THE post-Sept. 11 world, immigration officials are understandably reluctant to give a break to foreigners living in this country who have broken any immigration rules. But officials in Washington have wisely seen that an Ivory Coast citizen who has been teaching in the Boston schools for 10 years deserves such a break. Obain Attouoman, who was facing a deportation order today, has been granted at least a reprieve and will be able to return to work as a special-education teacher at Fenway High School.

Yesterday, Senator John Kerry took the unusual step of introducing a private bill on Attouoman’s behalf to stop his deportation. If the bill prompts Senator John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on immigration, to take action on his case with the Department of Homeland Security, Attouoman will be able to stay in the United States. Such action by a subcommittee chairman is customary but not guaranteed.

The 42-year-old Everett resident has sought asylum based on the persecution he suffered in Ivory Coast for union and political activities. While his case at least temporarily has reached a happier turn, it demonstrates shortcomings in an immigration system that too often sends hard-working immigrants back to uncertain fates in their homelands.

While Kerry’s bill awaits action, Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security, postponed Attouoman’s deportation at least a week in response to appeals from Mayor Menino, Governor Romney, Senators Kerry and Kennedy, and other elected officials. Representative Edward Markey, who has already filed a private bill for Attouoman, will do so again. Some of Attouoman’s most persuasive advocates have been his own students, who first demonstrated for him in Boston and then traveled to Washington this week to plead his case.

Attouoman, who was once arrested in Ivory Coast for his political activities, sought asylum in the United States in the 1990s. He ran afoul of immigration officials in 2001 when he says he misread the handwritten date for a hearing on his case before an immigration judge. He was supposed to appear on June 7, not July 7, as he thought. That error dogs him to this day.

In a letter to Chertoff asking for the deportation to be stopped, Senators Kerry, Kennedy, and Carl Levin of Michigan said that Attouoman ‘‘has had a profound influence on hundreds of students who view him as an educator and a role model.’’ As soon as Kerry and other officials in Washington successfully resolve Attouoman’s case, they should closely review immigration procedures that came so close to costing Boston the services of this dedicated young educator.

[paineinthearse]

6. Thank-you note received from Boston MOBE

Received by email from Eve Lyman.

Fri, 4 Mar 2005 06:29:14 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Obain granted reprieve!!!!


Thanks to all who made phone calls!
Lines at Homeland Security and Whitehouse were jammed, all of
Washington was aware of our efforts!
We can do it!

[paineinthearse]

7. Related post in ACTIVISM forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x15066

[paineinthearse]

8. Video

http://www.boston.com/news/necn/



Teacher Granted Reprieve From Deportation
(3/4/05 9:09 a.m.) He thought he might be deported, but instead, teacher Obain Attouoman is back in the classroom at Boston's Fenway High School. He's thanking the students for that. NECN's Ally Donnelly has the story.