Appeals, petition help keep Ugandan here (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Appeals, petition help keep Ugandan here
BY DAN HORN • DHORN@ENQUIRER.COM • OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Ugandan woman who claimed her life was in danger in her home country won a reprieve from immigration officials last week and will get to stay in Cincinnati.

Cissy Lyagoba, who fled Uganda in 1994, faced deportation when local Catholic groups and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur took up her cause earlier this year and launched a letter-writing campaign on her behalf.

Her lawyer said the personal appeals, including a petition drive, may have convinced authorities to take a closer look at Lyagoba's case and reconsider their position.

"I had lost the legal battle, but they took the ball and ran with it," said Lyagoba's lawyer, Firooz Namei. "It's over. She doesn't have to be deported."

Lyagoba's case began in 1994 when she came to the United States and applied for asylum, claiming her first husband was abducted and killed in Uganda because of his political activities. She later married a fellow Ugandan refugee and started a family.

Her new husband, Grace Mbeine, was granted asylum, but Lyagoba's request was denied.

Her appeal was filed late and several courts rejected her attempts to reopen the case, although some judges expressed sympathy for her situation.

Lyagoba, who has two daughters, came to the attention of local Catholic activists after she was jailed for six months while awaiting deportation. U.S. Rep. Steve Driehaus, D-West Price Hill, also lobbied immigration officials on her behalf.

They argued that Lyagoba had done nothing wrong and that her asylum appeal lost only because a previous lawyer missed a filing deadline.

Namei said she finally got the break she's been waiting for last week, when officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agreed to lift the deportation order and send her case back to an immigration judge. ICE officials confirmed the move but declined to comment.

The decision essentially ends Lyagoba's case because she now is eligible for "permanent resident" status based on her husband's U.S. citizenship.