Libyan grad students in Colo face deportation

I believe that these people should apply for asylum in the U.S., since they face death if they are deported to Libya.

Libyan grad students in Colorado face deportation
6:06 PM, May 7, 2011
DENVER - While Libyan rebels continue to battle the forces of Moammar Gadhafi, nearly 400 Libyan graduate students in Colorado are facing possible deportation. The Libyan government has decided to cut off all scholarship money to those students, which means they would no longer qualify for student visas in the United States.

Most of these students say they came to the U.S. with hopes of making their home country a better place.

............But now, there is a chance these students may never be able to finish their degrees.

"If their funding continues to be suspended, many of the students, if not all, will be facing immediate deportation proceedings," attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai said.

That presents a problem for many of the students, who say that returning to their home country is no longer a safe option.

"Our names are already in the government back in Libya," Lashhab said. "We can't move back to Libya. We would die there."

Those students say their participation in anti-Gadhafi protests in the United States makes them and their families enemies of the state under the Gadhafi regime.

the link: http://www.9news.com/news/article/197366/129/Libyan-grad-students-in-Colorado-face-deportation-

major bean wrote: I believe that these people should apply for asylum in the U.S., since they face death if they are deported to Libya.

Libyan grad students in Colorado face deportation
6:06 PM, May 7, 2011
DENVER - While Libyan rebels continue to battle the forces of Moammar Gadhafi, nearly 400 Libyan graduate students in Colorado are facing possible deportation. The Libyan government has decided to cut off all scholarship money to those students, which means they would no longer qualify for student visas in the United States.

Most of these students say they came to the U.S. with hopes of making their home country a better place.

............But now, there is a chance these students may never be able to finish their degrees.

"If their funding continues to be suspended, many of the students, if not all, will be facing immediate deportation proceedings," attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai said.

That presents a problem for many of the students, who say that returning to their home country is no longer a safe option.

"Our names are already in the government back in Libya," Lashhab said. "We can't move back to Libya. We would die there."

Those students say their participation in anti-Gadhafi protests in the United States makes them and their families enemies of the state under the Gadhafi regime.

the link: http://www.9news.com/news/article/197366/129/Libyan-grad-students-in-Colorado-face-deportation-

That i one heck of a predicament for the students. It is not something most of us ever need to think about. your idea regarding asylum is good for those who actually wish to follow such an avenue.

http://www.du.edu/ir/pdf/profiles1011/F ... sented.pdf

Looks like at least 34 students immediately impacted by the problem.
(DU has the largest concentration of Libyans in the area).

Were I to guess - I'd say that Dan Ritchie is on top of this problem, right now.

The students will get asylum, and (hopefully) an education. Half of them will stick around - a quarter will move somewhere else - and maybe a quarter will go home one day.

I'm guessing that they shouldn't have been participating in anti-government rallies when they were the beneficiaries of the government if they didn't want to end up on the Libyan government's list of enemies. Freedom of speech does not bring freedom from the consequences of that speech.

That said, I think it might be a good idea to take the confiscated Libyan funds and allow those funds to keep the scholarships funded and the students in school at least until this uprising reaches some sort of resolution. Granting them asylum at this point seems a bit premature to me, but I don't think we should be deporting them back into a civil war scenario either. If Gadhafi remains in power, then we consider the asylum approach. If he doesn't, then they, and we, needn't be worried about what his government will subject them to if they return.

A delay tactic by using frozen government funds is a great idea. It buys the time necessary to make lest hasty decision. Much better idea since it gives everyone a chance to really think about what is most appropriate for them and us.

When Iran kicked the Shaw out we had a bunch of their sailors over here learning to operated the war ships we where selling them.

I do not know if it is true but the scuttle butt was that they all went back and were shot.