My friend Anji M. alerts me to the case of Gokal and Sheila Kapoor. The couple and their son came to America in 1997 illegally in order to escape persecution by the Taliban. Gokal then filed papers appealing for political asylum. Surely a Hindu fleeing from a brutal fundamentalist regime would qualify, no? Newsweek reports:
…four years after his case first made its way into the system, it was finally dismissed on the basis that the Talibans removal from power meant that the family did not have a well-founded fear of future persecution. By then the septuagenarian had a Social Security number, worked as a baggage handler at Dulles Airport, paid taxes and had hoped to be included in a U.S. program that routinely granted asylum to Hindu refugees from Afghanistan. What he didnt take into account was the extra scrutiny he would receive in the post-9/11 world.
The immigration judge who initially turned down his application was critical of the fact that Kapoors prominent brother, Dr. Wishwa Kapoor, chief of general internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, did not attend the immigration hearing. For this reason, the judge apparently believed he must have aided and abetted his brothers illegal entry into the United States.
The judge was wrong on both counts. Hindus do not believe they can live in Afghanistan without being persecuted, and there are so few left in the country its hard to prove otherwise. And Dr. Kapoor didnt testify because his older brother, now 70, was too proud to ask him. The judge could have summoned the doctor to testify, rather than smear him, a man of impeccable reputation who was not there to defend himself, let alone his brother.
Ten days ago, Dr. Kapoor got a 10 p.m. call from his sister in Virginia to say that their brother and his wife, Shiela, 69, had been taken from their home by immigration officials. The officials told the couples son—who had graduated from high school earlier that day—that his parents would be back in a few hours. They were not, and it took two days before a lawyer hired by Dr. Kapoor found out that the couple were in Pamunkey prison, north of Richmond, Va.
Well sure. Everyone knows we’ve won the war against terror in Afghanistan so they should be just fine.
The family of Gokal’s brother started a website appealing for help since they didn’t know what else to do. It was subsequently that Newsweek picked up the story.
No one knows why they are in detention. They are in their 70s, and in failing health. They are truly kind and gentle people, and have done nothing wrong. We have been told nothing about why they are there and when or if they’ll get out. They have not been charged with anything. We are extremely concerned about their health and their ability to deal with the harsh conditions of the detention facility.
After experiencing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Gokal and Shiela, who are from a small religious minority, applied for asylum in the United States almost a decade ago. They did everything right - obtaining work permits, paying their taxes, and enrolling their son in one of the best school districts in Virginia. Gokal and Shiela began working at an age when most Americans would retire, so they could provide for their only son. They worked, lived, and settled into a community full of family and friends who cared for them, loved them and supported them, and lived quiet lives, following all the rules of their new country. We want them back with us, safe and sound!
At the bottom of the website there is a form you can use to write your Congressperson.
Please take a few minutes and send a fax through this website, asking the United States to release our family Gokal and Shiela, and reunite them with their son and our family. We are asking for faxes to be sent to your own congressional representatives and the president, and to the congresspeople in Virginia, where they are being held without cause. You can use the template letter on the next page, edit it, or write your own letter. THANK YOU!
