U.S. Is Ending Haven for Those Fleeing a Volcano August 9, 2004
...
Now, in a startling twist that reflects a major change in
immigration politics, the Department of Homeland Security
is ordering the 292 Montserratians to leave by the end of
February - not because it is safe to go home again, but
because it is not going to be safe anytime soon.
The decision has stunned islanders who rebuilt their lives
in America from scratch. "It's devastating," said Sarah Ryner,
59, a public health nurse supervisor who lost her home and
career in the volcanic aftermath and now works night shifts
at a New Jersey hospital. "I'm just frozen, and my children
are the same. We are saying: What can we do? Where can we go?"
Homeland Security officials have an answer: Move to England.
...
"I'm really worried right now," Khorri said. "It's like they're
just kicking you out after you worked so hard."
"We who came here, we wanted to start a life on our own,"
she said. "I'm not trying to say that those who went to
England are less ambitious. But those of us who came here
took a harder route. And now they're telling us to throw
it all away."
Ms. Weekes is still trying. "I wrote the president a letter,"
she said. "And I said surely, this is not what America is all about."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/nyregion/09volcano.html?hp
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