Handful of Katrina Victims in Deportation
SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- After heeding the Bush administration's call to seek help regardless of status, a handful of illegal immigrants who fled Hurricane Katrina have been ordered to appear for deportation hearings.

Three undocumented immigrants were met by immigration agents at the El Paso, Texas, airport when they were flown in from the Gulf Coast along with other evacuees, said Leticia Zamarripa, Immigration and Custom Enforcement spokeswoman in El Paso. A fourth person, a permanent legal resident, was questioned and released, she said.

The immigrants went through background checks and fingerprinting and were released with orders to appear for deportation hearings, Zamarripa said. They were allowed to go to other shelters in Texas, said Ouisa Davis, an attorney for one of the immigrants. She did not have details, including the date of the initial questioning.

In another instance, state troopers in West Virginia called in immigration agents on Sept. 4 when a woman alleged that she was sexually assaulted by another passenger on a bus carrying evacuees to Camp Dawson, ICE spokesman Dean Boyd said Monday.

The accused passenger and a companion, both from Central America, were taken into custody, Boyd said. When ICE officials interviewed the woman, she refused to press charges or testify. The accused immigrant denied her allegations. He and his companion remained in custody.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Homeland Security Department encouraged all storm victims, including illegal immigrants, to seek help. The appeal was made in English and Spanish.

The agency stopped short of assuring that information about immigration status would not be shared with law enforcement agencies _ a protection that was extended after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Senate Democrats have been pressing for such protection.

In the days after the hurricane, Mexican President Vicente Fox made a televised appeal, also in English and Spanish, urging Mexican nationals affected by the storm to seek help. He said U.S. authorities had assured his government that ''those who were not documented at the time will not be subject to any pressure or persecution whatsoever.''

The law enforcement actions have left at least one group concerned about lending its influence to the federal government's efforts to reach immigrants affected by the storm.

The White House was ''actively communicating to us and the Spanish-language press that everyone could come forward,'' said Cecilia Munoz, vice president of policy for the National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S.-based Hispanic advocacy group.

''If federal authorities are using this as an enforcement opportunity, it creates a moral dilemma for us in how do we advise our constituents,'' Munoz said. ''We are getting mixed signals.''

Munoz said she supports law enforcement action when a crime has been committed.

They just don't draw and quarter like they used to.

Munoz said she supports law enforcement action when a crime has been committed.

except for the initial crime of entering the country ILLEGALLY!

Quoted: Munoz said she supports law enforcement action when a crime has been committed. except for the initial crime of entering the country ILLEGALLY!

[Republicrat]It's only a misdemeanor.[/Republicrat]

[A.G.Gonzalez]Otherwise law abiding citizens.[/A.G.Gonzalez]

[GWB]Hard working people.[/GWB]

They released them with orders to attend a hearing at a later date! Graaaagghhghgfrggh!

It's all Jorge Bush's fault.