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Feb 7, 2008 4:28 pm US/Pacific
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CA Lawmakers Try To Halt Vietnamese Deportation
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
Congressional lawmakers are asking the federal government to delay implementation of an agreement that would send Vietnamese who are living illegally in the United States back to their country.
"The Department of Homeland Security is meant to protect our safety, but not at the cost of real justice for people who are seeking refuge on our shores," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, said in a statement Thursday. "It is unconscionable that DHS would circumvent Congress to arrange a speedy deportation schedule with—of all places—a communist country, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. These officials should reconsider, and postpone this decision."
More than a dozen other lawmakers signed a letter to DHS asking for a delay.
Homeland Security officials haven't responded to the letter, but a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency would issue a response soon.
The agreement with Hanoi would send Vietnamese who arrived on or after July 1995 back to Vietnam.
The Vietnamese Embassy says anyone who returns will be treated fairly.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)