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An Immigrant From Kenya, Might Be Forced To Leave The U.S

First, Jacqueline Coats lost her husband when he dove into a fierce Pacific Ocean riptide to rescue two boys. Now Coats, an immigrant from Kenya, might be forced to leave the U.S., in spite of legislators' efforts on her behalf Wednesday. Her husband died in May 2006 before he filed her residency application. If a private bill filed in January asking Congress to grant her legal status fails, she'll be deported, said state assembly members who have launched an electronic petition in support of the immigrant. "It is an outrage and an injustice to the memory of this courageous hero that his wife should suffer the loss of family and livelihood once again," said Assembly members Mary Hayashi, D-San Leandro, who sponsored the petition along with fellow members Joe Coto, D-San Jose, and Mervyn Dymally, D-Compton.

Attorneys agree that in such cases, their hands are tied by current immigration law, which voids residency applications if the American citizen entering the petition for their foreign-born spouse dies before it's adjudicated. If the couple has been married for more than two years, and the application is pending, the foreign-born spouse can reapply, attorneys said. But in the Coats' case, the application had not even been filed. "The bottom line is, Ms. Coats did not even have a visa petition pending when her husband died," Virginia Kice, spokeswoman with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Even if a visa petition is pending and a petitioner dies, the petition dies with him."

An Oregon attorney who has represented scores of immigrants whose applications for residency were voided after the death of their American spouse said he's suing this week in federal court and seeking class-action status to close this legal gap."A lot of these people have exhausted their resources, have been denied work permits, driver's licenses, a regular life," said attorney Brent Renison. "The ironic thing is that if they just remarried, they could reapply. But outside of that, they don't have any other options." For now, the only hope for Jacqueline Coats lies with the private bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said the woman's lawyer, Thip Ark. Jacqueline Coats first came to U.S. in 2001 to attend San Jose State University. During her stay, she met Marlin Coats — a dependable, family oriented man who wooed her with flowers and his flair for comedy, she said.

A week later, they were dating. Two years later, they married, with Marlin Coats' twin brother standing acting as a witness. Her husband's large family — he had seven siblings, some of them married with children — became like her own, Jacqueline Coats said. They celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving together, and grew to rely on each other. "They're my family here," she said. But while she was a student, she lost her legal immigration status. She had come on a student visa, which requires a full-time schedule. When time conflicts between classes left her three units short, immigration officials were notified. "These cases are being monitored more closely" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Kice. Deportation proceedings began 11 days before her wedding, Jacqueline Coats said. Read more at democrats.assembly.ca.gov

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