U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement decrees are getting harsher: Jung Courville, a Korean national who has already resided in the U.S. for 18 years, received an order to leave the country by August 28 at an annual check-in with immigration officials.
Though Courville has no U.S. citizenship, she has been married a U.S. citizen for 14 years, has two children and any record for braking the U.S. law – technically, any reason to make her deported. She didn’t gain citizenship and was flagged while traveling in 2010, and has been meeting ICE once a year after that occasion.
“When a new couple gets married, there is some skepticism,” McDermott, CONECT executive director, said. “But she has been here for 18 years, she’s been married for 14 years, she has two kids. There is no doubt this is a true marriage. We hope that she can get another deferral, and hopefully some relief and some status.”
The family attend Jerome Catholic Church in Norwalk, where people from CONECT organization will gather and pray to support Courville family, as this family needs support and is not the case immigration implementations should begin with, for sure.
CONECT is a multi-faith organization which includes 28 southern Connecticut conventions.
Moreover, Matt McDermott, reported that one of Courville children has serious health incapacity and needs a special treatment.
To support and protect this family, Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal plan to attend the vigil, along with Courville family, and their lawyer, and bring more facts of her story at that time.
“We’re trying to see if we can’t push for a stay for Jung as well, and really a reversal of the deportation order,” McDermott said. “We’re also hopeful to get her some status as a citizen. She’s a mother of U.S. children and the wife of a U.S. citizen and has no criminal record of any kind. She has no reason to be deported. Of course, the family is devastated, and the community is reaching out with a lot of support for this family who have been members of the St. Jerome parish for a long time.”
This case is not the first one, everyone remembers similar occasions in April, when many families were separated. Few weeks ago Guatemala national was deported after living in the U.S. for 24 years.
