To deport or not? It could be up to Laura Bush
When First Lady Laura Bush returns from her trip accompanying President Bush to Japan this week, her in-box may well include a letter from 9-year-old Chigozie Okorie, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who wants her to help "save my dad."
Chigozie is the son of a minister who emigrated to the United States from Nigeria and who is trying to remain in the United States but has come up against a 1996 law ordering that immigrants convicted of even minor crimes be deported. The son is seeking a presidential pardon for his father, who served an 18-month sentence as the result of a nearly two-decade old drug arrest. "My dad made a mistake in 1989 when he was young," Chigozie wrote to the first lady.
The New York Daily News provided a lengthy account of his efforts to help his father remain in the United States.
His three letters sent directly to the president seeking Bush's help have been acknowledged with form letters from the White House -- and holiday wishes from the president. Now he is seeking the first lady's assistance.
-- James Gerstenzang
Photo: Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
What kind of drug arrest did he serve 18 months for?
Was he possibly bringing heroin into the country?
Posted by: thinkforyourself | July 07, 2008 at 04:35 PM