Laura
04-02-2008, 08:54 PM
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=734557
Madison - A former high school track star studying to be a pharmacist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her brother have been released from custody pending their deportation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday.
Tope Awe, 22, and her brother, Oluwagbenga Awe, 24, were detained Thursday after a meeting with immigration officials in Milwaukee. They were released Tuesday but must wear ankle monitoring bracelets and check in regularly with immigration officials while they wait for travel documents for their return to Nigeria, the agency said Tuesday in a statement.
The siblings and their parents came to the United States from Nigeria in 1989 on a six-month tourist visas. An immigration judge rejected their request to stay in the country in 1999 and gave them 60 days to leave.
The Awes stayed in the country while they unsuccessfully appealed the decision. In 2003, the family received a stay on their deportation because Samuel Awe, the siblings' father, was ill. That stay expired July 31, 2004, the immigration agency said.
Samuel Awe and his wife, Julianah, have remained in Milwaukee, where he said he is on dialysis treatment for kidney failure.
Tope and Oluwagbenga Awe did not contact the immigration service after July 2004 and are now considered immigration fugitives, the agency said.
"These are individuals who have been through the immigration court process, have had their day in court, have been ordered deported from the United States and failed to comply with that order," said Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for the immigration service.
Tope Awe was 3 years old when the family came to the U.S. She attended University School in River Hills, where she broke two school records in the triple jump and discus. She was on track to graduate from UW-Madison next year, her friend Nurilign Ahmed said.
Students at UW-Madison have urged immigration officials to allow Tope Awe to stay in the U.S. until she finishes her education.
Petition to stay
The African Student Association began circulating a petition Friday and had gathered about 1,300 signatures by Monday afternoon, Ahmed said. Several student groups held a rally that drew more than 100 people to Memorial Union on Monday.
"To yank her out of the only country she's ever known as home would be inhumane," pharmacy student Kaveke Mualuko said.
Awe was co-chair of the African Student Association and co-president of the Multicultural Affairs Program in Pharmacy, Ahmed said.
Oluwagbenga Awe graduated from UW-Stevens Point last year. He married a U.S. citizen but has not been granted citizenship on the basis of his marriage. The couple have a 16-month-old child, friends said.
Madison - A former high school track star studying to be a pharmacist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her brother have been released from custody pending their deportation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Tuesday.
Tope Awe, 22, and her brother, Oluwagbenga Awe, 24, were detained Thursday after a meeting with immigration officials in Milwaukee. They were released Tuesday but must wear ankle monitoring bracelets and check in regularly with immigration officials while they wait for travel documents for their return to Nigeria, the agency said Tuesday in a statement.
The siblings and their parents came to the United States from Nigeria in 1989 on a six-month tourist visas. An immigration judge rejected their request to stay in the country in 1999 and gave them 60 days to leave.
The Awes stayed in the country while they unsuccessfully appealed the decision. In 2003, the family received a stay on their deportation because Samuel Awe, the siblings' father, was ill. That stay expired July 31, 2004, the immigration agency said.
Samuel Awe and his wife, Julianah, have remained in Milwaukee, where he said he is on dialysis treatment for kidney failure.
Tope and Oluwagbenga Awe did not contact the immigration service after July 2004 and are now considered immigration fugitives, the agency said.
"These are individuals who have been through the immigration court process, have had their day in court, have been ordered deported from the United States and failed to comply with that order," said Gail Montenegro, a spokeswoman for the immigration service.
Tope Awe was 3 years old when the family came to the U.S. She attended University School in River Hills, where she broke two school records in the triple jump and discus. She was on track to graduate from UW-Madison next year, her friend Nurilign Ahmed said.
Students at UW-Madison have urged immigration officials to allow Tope Awe to stay in the U.S. until she finishes her education.
Petition to stay
The African Student Association began circulating a petition Friday and had gathered about 1,300 signatures by Monday afternoon, Ahmed said. Several student groups held a rally that drew more than 100 people to Memorial Union on Monday.
"To yank her out of the only country she's ever known as home would be inhumane," pharmacy student Kaveke Mualuko said.
Awe was co-chair of the African Student Association and co-president of the Multicultural Affairs Program in Pharmacy, Ahmed said.
Oluwagbenga Awe graduated from UW-Stevens Point last year. He married a U.S. citizen but has not been granted citizenship on the basis of his marriage. The couple have a 16-month-old child, friends said.