U.S. temporarily halts deportation

A lawyer thinks the woman is eligible for a visa available under the Violence Against Women Act.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- The federal government temporarily halted the deportation Wednesday of a woman who planned to leave her three American-born children in the United States when she was sent back to her native Venezuela.
Amina Silmi, 35, of nearby Lakewood, had stopped in Georgia, on her way to South America, when news came that the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a stay in the deportation case that has caused an uproar among supporters who think Silmi should be allowed to stay with her children. She has lived in the United States for 11 years on an expired visitor visa.
Silmi, who was born in Venezuela to Palestinian parents, had planned to leave her children behind because they have disabilities and she thinks they would have a better life in America. The stay gives Silmi time to ask a court to find a way to allow her to avoid deportation, said her lawyer, Svetlana Schreiber.
"This is a momentary victory for her children," said Schreiber, who was unsure if Silmi would be temporarily reunited with her family.
Schreiber thinks Silmi is eligible for a visa available under the Violence Against Women Act because she said Silmi was abused by two former husbands.
Earlier Wednesday, Silmi sobbed quietly and hugged her children before entering the federal building housing immigration offices where she surrendered.
"It's so sad," she said to reporters as about two dozen supporters held a vigil outside the federal building.
Silmi had planned to leave her children, ages 12, 6 and 5, with her sister in suburban North Olmsted.
A spokesman for the immigration service, Greg Palmore, said once deported, Silmi would be barred from returning to the United States for 10 years for failing to obey a 2001 order to leave.
Two marriages to legal immigrants kept Silmi here for 13 years. Her second husband was deported in December after being convicted of trafficking in food stamps before their marriage.