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Cleveland protests halt deportation of Palestinian woman from U.S. to Venezuela |
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Militant/Carole Lesnick
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CLEVELAND—About 200 people held a vigil and rally here February 2 at the Trinity Lutheran Church (above) to protest the deportation of Amina Silmi. A Venezuelan of Palestinian descent, Silmi is a mother of three U.S.-born children and has lived in the United States for 14 years. Washington is trying to deport her for allegedly overstaying a 1990 visitor’s visa. Silmi was about to board a connecting flight to Venezuela at the Atlanta airport February 4, when a federal judge in Cleveland issued a restraining order to block her deportation. She is now being held at an Atlanta detention center while the Council on American Islamic Relations and Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network organize to win her release. “I feel inspired because we were able to come together and make a difference,” said Don Bryant, a leader of the Immigrant Support Network. “The fight isn’t over yet.”
—CAROLE LESNICK
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