Dreams deferred

By Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Sunday, Sept. 8, 2002

Thousands of refugees, many of whom already had been approved entry into the United States before Sept. 11, remain stuck in limbo overseas. Many have been thrust into a labyrinth of new security procedures and bureaucratic obstacles that has proved slow to navigate and difficult to overcome.

	Petr and Mariya Georgiu, seated, and their son, Mikhail, live in Sacramento after immigrating from Moldova. The Sept. 11 attacks interrupted the family's immigration process and delayed their departure. During that time, daughter Domnika Guboglo gave birth. The Georgius had to leave her and the baby girl behind when they finally left Moldova for the United States in February. Sacramento Bee/Manny Crisostomo

For the past year, the Georgiu and Gladilina families have been living from the same life script.

Each family is made up of refugees from Moldova who left their country in search of opportunity and religious freedom.

Each settled in the Sacramento area early this year after witnessing the births of new grandchildren, just days apart.

And each made the wrenching decision to leave those grandchildren behind.

The Georgius and the Gladilinas, though they don't know each other, share the predicament of being caught by a ripple of Sept. 11 that has touched people around the world.

Thousands of refugees, many of whom had already been approved entry into the United States before Sept. 11, remain stuck in limbo overseas.

Those who eventually made it – like the Georgiu and Gladilina families – were forced to delay their departures for months. Those who didn't – like the families' two new grandchildren and their mothers – are thrust into a labyrinth of new security procedures and bureaucratic obstacles that proves slow to navigate and difficult to overcome.

"I want with my entire heart to see my entire family united here in the United States," Luydmila Gladilina, 53, said through an interpreter at her Citrus Heights apartment.

Luydmila Gladilina arrived with her husband and five of her children Jan. 18, three months after their original departure date. The Pentecostal family originally had received permission to bring daughter Yelena to the United States, too, but Yelena gave birth to a son on Jan. 8 and had to stay behind. She continues to try to persuade federal immigration authorities to let her join her family now.

Like many refugees who have encountered complications during the resettlement process in the past year, Luydmila Gladilina blames her woes on Sept. 11.

The attacks on New York and Washingtonthe East Coast had a profound effect on American immigration policy, changing the way prospective immigrants, refugees and tourists are treated when they apply for entry into the United States.

The attacks also altered the lives of some immigrants already here.

While a few new policies enacted in the past year have major implications – such as virtual bans on visas for people from Middle Eastern countries – the most significant changes to the immigration process stem from tighter security and tougher enforcement.

In general, security and background checks have become more extensive and thorough. And the Immigration and Naturalization Service, under severe criticism for its handling of the men who became the Sept. 11 hijackers, has cracked down on immigration violations already on the books.

"It really is not as much a change in law and policy as it is a renewed emphasis on restoring the credibility and integrity of immigration law," said INS spokesman Russ Bergeron.

Immigration officials say that the higher-octane enforcement and additional security procedures are applied to immigrants and prospective immigrants across the board. But many immigration attorneys and civil rights advocates argue that people from the Middle East have been unfairly singled out.

"There's a huge enforcement mentality right now, and it's targeted the Arab and Muslim community," said Jeanne Butterfield, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "We have immigrant communities in our country that feel they are under siege."

Beginning Wednesday on the anniversary of the attacks, for instance, visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Syria and other countries that the State Department considers terrorism sponsors will have to be fingerprinted and photographed when they enter this country. The information will be checked against a database of wanted criminals and terrorists.

Beyond such policies aimed specifically at them, many Middle Eastern immigrants believe the INS and other agencies are selectively enforcing existing laws.

Reem Awad-Rashmawi, a Sacramento immigration attorney with many Middle Eastern immigrant clients, said that since Sept. 11 she has witnessed an increase in deportation and removal orders.

"This is a country where everybody comes from somewhere," she said. "But the main people they're looking for, especially from past deportations, are Middle Easterners."

Bergeron, of the INS, said, "You bet we are" going through past deportation orders and enforcing them. But he denied that Middle Easterners were being targeted.

Bergeron and other officials acknowledge that changes since Sept. 11 have backlogged U.S. immigration- and visa-related processes.

More backlog is anticipated. The INS wants to reduce the time tourists are allowed to stay in the country from a maximum of six months to 30 days, unless visitors can convince officials they need more time. The agency is now reviewing comments that were submitted by the public.

People trying to come to the United States as refugees already have felt the effects of Sept. 11.

Though the United States was scheduled to take as many as 70,000 refugees this fiscal year, only 21,662 had been admitted as of Aug. 15, according to the State Department. When the year ends Sept. 30, officials predict they will have admitted fewer than 30,000.

Foreigners can apply for refugee status if they have been persecuted or fear persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or membership in a social group.

But many given refugee status before Sept. 11, or who hoped to receive it afterward, have been struggling to clear new delays and security hurdles.

"We recognize the events of 9/11 have slowed down the admission of refugees to the United States," Bergeron said. "That is an unfortunate and difficult byproduct of our efforts to improve national security."

While they wait, many of the hopeful refugees are stuck in awkward, sometimes dangerous, situations. Some aren't allowed to work if they already have refugee status, while others must hazard the dangers of refugee camps.

"In certain parts of the world, not being able to come here is a matter of life and death," said Daniel Crawford, analyst for the state's Refugee Programs Branch.

In the case of the Gladilina and Georgiu families, the two mothers and their babies aren't in danger. They live in apartments or with family, but they can't work in Moldova and long to join their families here.

Before Sept. 11, it was relatively easy to bring an infant into the country if the mother had refugee status.

Though Bergeron said there have been no official policy changes regarding newborns, he concedes that "the process is now much more thorough."

That process has confounded the Georgiu family. Mariya and Petr Georgiu came to the United States in February with their son, Mikhail. If not for Sept. 11, they would have left Moldova on Sept. 15.

While they were waiting for their departure to be rescheduled, daughter Domnika gave birth to a girl, Olesya.

Domnika failed in her attempts to get approval for the baby before the rest of her family left in February.

Now, it's not clear what will happen, and the strain of the separation is visible as the Georgius alternately break into smiles or succumb to tears when talking about the family they left behind.

"I see a lot of people who play with their grandchildren," said Petr Georgiu, 53, who lives with his family near Stockton Boulevard and Fruitridge Road. "I can't play with my grandchild. … We have to be together."

The Bee's Emily Bazar can be reached at (916) 321-1016 or ebazar@sacbee.com.