Irving woman appeals to Washington to avert deportation (KVUE-CA)

Irving woman appeals to Washington to avert deportation

by MONIKA DIAZ

Posted on March 17, 2011 at 3:44 PM

Olga Zanella, an Irving woman who is facing deportation to Mexico, continues to struggle with an uncertain future.

Now her legal team is now taking the case beyond Dallas. They are urging immigration officials in the nation's capital to take over.

"We don't feel that Olga is getting a fair shake in Dallas," said Ralph Isenberg, a Dallas businessman who has been helping Zanella since January.

Zanella, a 20-year-old Irving ISD high school graduate, was thrown into deportation proceedings two years ago after a traffic stop. Her attempts to halt her deportation have been denied twice.

Isenberg sent a letter to the Ombudsman of Homeland Security, January Contreras. In the letter, he claims that the field director at the Dallas Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office, Nuria Prendes, refused to accept the illegal immigrant's new stay of deportation application.

"This field director decides at the end to not even accept the application at all, and that's against the rules," Isenberg said. She has to accept the application."

News 8 contacted the Homeland Security department in Washington D.C., but the agency did not respond to our request.

In a statement from Dallas ICE office spokesman Carl Rusnok, the agency said it stands by its decisions:

"A federal immigration judge issued deportation orders for Olga Zanella and subsequently denied her request to reopen her case. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is responsible for enforcing the orders of immigration judges. In certain limited circumstances, the local ICE field office director has the authority to grant a request for a stay of removal. It has been determined that a stay of removal is not appropriate in this case."

Zanella's parents brought her to the U.S. illegally when she was six years old. She hasn't been to Mexico since, and says she does not know any of her relatives in the state of San Luis Potosi.

In previous interviews, Zanella told us she doesn't want to leave the United Steates. "When I hear the American anthem, I do feel something in my heart... this is my home," she said.

Isenberg believes Zanella would be in danger if deported because of the wave of drug-related crime sweeping the country. He hopes Washington gives Zanella a second chance.

"I need Washington to step in and make certain that the story of Olga Zanella is properly told so that she is not deported," Isenberg said.