[Marxism] Kenyan widow of American hero fights deportation

["Johannes Schneider" <Johannes.Schneider@xxxxxxx>]

From Kenyan paper Daily Nation

Kenyan widow of American hero fights deportation

Story by KEVIN J KELLY and DAVE OPIYO
Publication Date: 9/7/2007

A Kenyan woman whose American husband died heroically is fighting immigration 
officialsâ attempts to deport her from the United States.

Ms Jacqueline Coats, who once worked at Nation TV , lost her husband, Mr Marlin 
Coats, in May 2006. He drowned off the coast of California while trying to 
rescue two boys.

Mr Coats had been dining with his mother at a seaside restaurant in San 
Francisco on Mothersâ Day when he heard the boys screaming for help. 

A former lifeguard, he immediately plunged into the turbulent Pacific Ocean in 
a bid to save the children but in vain. A rescue crew eventually saved the boys 
but could not reach Mr Coats in time.

He has been memorialised by the US Coast Guard, which last month posthumously 
awarded him one of its highest honours, the Gold Lifesaving Medal.

Despite this, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is trying to 
send Ms Coats back to Kenya.

âIt 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,â says 
Mary Hayashi, a member of the California Legislature who is circulating a 
petition in support of Ms Coatsâ efforts to remain in the US.

The former Jacqueline Muhoro, from Murangâa in Central Province, had entered 
the US on a student visa in 2001. She studied mass communications at San Jose 
State University in California.

She had earlier attended the Kenya Institute of Mass Communications while 
working as an assistant producer for the Nation TV show Up Close and Candid.

Ms Coats says she ânever got to live independently in Kenya,â and has made 
a life for herself in the United States. She currently works as a bus 
dispatcher for a county transportation agency in California.

âMy friends and parts of my family are here now,â Ms Coats adds. âThis is 
where my life is.â

She says she remains close to her husbandâs siblings and parents.

The former Ms Muhoro, now 27, married Mr Coats in 2004. 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Jacqueline Muhoro met Marlin Coats, a 
San Francisco native and cellular phone salesman, in February 2004 when the two 
spotted each other on the Bay Bridge while driving with friends.

Months later, they were married at San Francisco City Hall â Marlin Coatsâ 
identical twin brother, Markell, served as a witness.

Dream of children

The couple lived in San Leandro, and both husband and wife worked and were 
dreaming of having children soon. 

While her parents and two siblings remain in Kenya, Jacqueline said her 
husbandâs large family has become like her own.

At the time of Mr Coats death, he was preparing to file an application for 
permanent residency status for his wife because she is no longer covered by her 
US student visa. 

Another online magazine, the Socialist Worker stated that immediately after 
their marriage, Mr Coats, signed a petition stating that he and Jacqueline were 
married and that she was seeking permanent residency. 

Although they were married a week after the ICE deportation hearings began, the 
petition should have protected her, says the magazine. But the petition was 
never filed.

Ms Muhoro told Socialist Worker: âWe had signed everything [but] the 
immigration office didnât have the documents with them at the time [of 
Marlinâs death]. We were putting everything together that they needed instead 
of going back and forth. We were in the process of meeting the lawyer to submit 
everything.â 

She added, âMy life has suddenly taken a twist. Four months ago, I never 
thought it would be like this. Before Marlin passed away, I was so happy.â

Ms Coats lost her student status when she dropped three credits under a 
full-time course load, after dropping a class that conflicted with courses 
required of international students. 

âI actually applied for reinstatement and explained to them why I fell out of 
status, and they denied my reinstatement,â she said.

And she described the particular challenges faced by students from African 
countries seeking to study in the US.

âYou could be accepted to a very good college, and they could say, âWe 
donât think your parents have enough money, so you canât come,â she told 
the online magazine.

Ms Coats, her lawyer and her union, ATU Local 192, are hoping California 
legislators will help pass a private Bill that would allow her to stay in the 
US.

The Bill filed by US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, is asking 
the US Congress to normalise Ms Coatsâ immigration status.

Bills seeking to assist specific individuals generally have slim chances of 
success. In the past six years, the US Congress approved only 36 of 495 private 
Bills that lawmakers had introduced. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors as 
well as the San Francisco and Alameda Labor Councils have come out in support 
of her.

Organisers of a rally planned before her hearing at the San Francisco ICE 
office on September 28 say that building a visible public support and pressure 
for her case is the best chance for allowing her and millions more like her who 
have built their lives in the US, to be able to stay legally. 

Speaking later on to the Nation from the US, Ms Coats vowed never to give up 
until her quest for permanent residence was granted. 

She appealed to the US Congress to pass the private members Bill. âI hope 
that they will grant me the green card which guarantees me permanent residence 
in this country because this is where I belong now,â she told the Nation.
 
Source:
<http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=39&newsid=105998>
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