[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5622-S5623]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 949. A bill for the relief of Zhenfu Ge; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to offer today, 
legislation to provide lawful permanent residence status to Zhenfu Ge. 
Mrs. Ge is the grandmother of two U.S. citizen children who face the 
devastation of being separated from their grandmother after losing 
their mother just last month.
  Mrs. Ge came to the United States in 1998 to help care for her two 
grandchildren while her U.S. citizen daughter Yanyu Wang and her son-
in-law John Marks worked. Shortly afterwards, Mrs. Ge's daughter filed 
an immigration petition on her behalf. She was scheduled for an April 
26 Immigration and Naturalization Service, INS, interview, which is the 
last step in the green card process. The family anticipated that the 
interview would result in Mrs. Ge's gaining a green card.
  In a tragic turn of events, Mrs. Ge's daughter was diagnosed with a 
rare and deadly form of lymphoma and given only 7 months to live. As 
Mrs. Wang's health quickly declined, she asked her mother to care for 
her 3-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son after her death. Mrs. Ge 
promised her daughter she would care for her grandchildren and quickly 
became the most active maternal figure in their lives.
  On April 15 of this year, 11 days before Mrs. Ge's scheduled INS 
interview, her daughter died. Because current law does not allow Mrs. 
Ge to adjust her status without her daughter, Mrs. Ge now faces 
deportation.
  This family has certainly felt the pain of a significant tragedy. 
With the death of Yanyu Wang, her family must begin to rebuild their 
lives and face a future without their loved one. Losing a grandmother 
to deportation will only further the grief and compromise the emotional 
health of her two young grandchildren, who are still mourning the loss 
of their mother. According to her son-in-law, John Mark, Mrs. Ge 
``represents continuity and a tie to their mother for our children, and 
her presence will allow me to continue to successfully support my 
family.
  Mrs. Ge has done everything she could to become a permanent resident 
of this country. But for the tragedy of her daughter's untimely death, 
she likely would have attained that status.
  I hope my colleagues will support this private legislation so that we 
can help Mrs. Ge, her grandchildren, and son-in-law begin to rebuild 
their lives in the wake of their family tragedy and allow Mrs. Ge to 
keep the promise she made to her daughter.
  I ask for unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in 
the Record. I also ask unanimous consent that the letter from Mr. Marks 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 949

  [Data not available at time of printing.]


                                                Sausalito, CA,

                                                   April 19, 2001.
     Hon. Dianne Feinstein,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Feinstein: I write to appeal for your help in 
     an exceptional immigration case regarding my mother-in-law, 
     Zhenfu Ge (United States Immigration & Naturalization Service 
     reference #A78192014.)
       Mrs. Ge came to the United States from her native Shanghai, 
     China in 1998 after our daughter was born. The purpose of her 
     immigration was to care for our infant and for our nine-year-
     old son to enable my wife and me to work. I have lived in 
     California most of my life and I work for Kaiser Permanente 
     in San Rafael; my wife, Yanyu Wang, was a research scientist 
     for Onyx Pharmaceuticals in Richmond, and a naturalized 
     citizen of the United States.
       We had applied for naturalization for Mrs. Ge to allow her 
     to remain in the United States to care for her grandchildren 
     indefinitely. We had every expectation that the INS hearing 
     set for April 26 (see correspondence enclosed) would result 
     in the successful completion of her application.
       My wife had learned that she was suffering from lymphoma in 
     1999. Unfortunately, despite every possible medical 
     intervention, she died on April 15, eleven days before her 
     mother's hearing for naturalization. We are advised by our 
     attorney that absent her daughter, Mrs. Ge's case will be 
     dismissed out-of-hand, and she will be forced to return to 
     China.
       I hope you will agree that Mrs. Ge's presence in our family 
     is even more important following the death of my wife. She is 
     the

[[Page S5623]]

     only maternal figure for our children, she represents 
     continuity and a tie to their mother for our children, and 
     her presence will allow me to continue to successfully 
     support my family notwithstanding the reduction of our income 
     to a single salary.
       Before she died, my wife implored her mother to do 
     everything possible to remain in the United States to ensure 
     that our children would be raised with her care and love. I 
     ask for your help in enabling this to happen.
       Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
           Sincerely yours,
                                                        John Mark.
                                 ______