[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 INTRODUCTION OF HIS PRIVATE BILL FOR THE RELIEF OF JUDITH TANJOH AND 
          HER CHILDREN SERGE, MARIE, EMMANUEL AND ROGER TIKUM

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, today I have introduced a bill for the 
relief of Judith Tanjoh and her children Serge, Marie, Emmanuel and 
Roger Tikum.
  This family last entered the United States in 1988 in A-2 diplomatic 
status from the Republic of Cameroon when the now deceased husband of 
Judith Tanjoh was attached to the Cameroon Embassy. For the next 
several years the family lived in lawful status in the U.S. through 
December 31, 1997 when the husband was recalled to the Cameroon because 
of Judith's political activities against the Cameroon government.
  Cameroon has been found by the U.S. State Department's Country 
Reports on Human Rights Practices to possess a ``poor human rights 
record'', continuing to commit ``numerous serious abuses''. After her 
husband's recall, Judith decided to file for asylum. However, in turn 
her application was denied by the INS Asylum Office, the Immigration 
Judge, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals 
for the 4th Circuit.
  When the Board of Immigration Appeals ``affirmed without opinion'' 
the denial of the asylum application by the Immigration Judge on 
December 17, 2002, it also permitted the family to ``voluntarily depart 
the U.S. . . . within 30 days from the date of this order or any 
extension beyond that time as may be granted by the district director 
[of the INS]''. Within that 30 day period, Judith's attorneys filed for 
an extension of the voluntary departure period and a Petition for 
Review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Each filing 
was in accordance with the family's statutory and regulatory rights.
  The INS has never responded to the request for extension of the 
voluntary departure period. The 4th Circuit issued its mandate on 
November 10, 2003 ``enforcing the Board's order of December 17, 2002''. 
Of course, part of that order was permitting the family to voluntarily 
depart within 30 days.
  While these proceedings were pending, INS issued Judith authorization 
to work and she obtained employment as a certified nursing assistant. 
Her employer has sponsored her (and her children derivatively) for 
lawful permanent residence via the Labor Certification process. That 
application, initially filed prior to April 30, 2001, has been 
certified by the U.S. Department of Labor and an Immigrant Worker's 
Visa Classification Petition has been pending with INS since July, 
2003.
  An INS General Counsel's Memo advises INS Government Attorneys to no 
longer apply the ``exceptional and compelling circumstances'' standard 
to motions to reopen for consideration of adjustment of status to 
lawful permanent residence for persons who have been in deportation 
proceedings. The Memo instructs that the INS should join in such a 
motion (which otherwise could not be filed if more than 3 months have 
expired since the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals) if the 
alien is statutorily eligible and warrants a favorable exercise of 
discretion. Judith's attorneys have twice requested the INS Chief 
Counsel's Office in Baltimore to join in such a motion in this case. 
Since Judith's labor certification was timely filed to allow her to 
adjust her status to permanent residence, she is statutorily eligible.
  The family also clearly warrants a favorable exercise of discretion. 
Judith has been a hardworking, tax-paying certified nursing assistant 
for several years as she has worked with INS permission. The children 
have successfully progressed through our school system for the last 15 
years. Roger Tikum graduated college and is now married, employed and 
living in Wisconsin. Although his wife is a U.S. citizen who has filed 
a Visa Petition to accord him Immediate Relative status, because he was 
previously riding on his mother's denied asylum application he faces 
deportation. Serge won a football scholarship to the University of 
Massachusetts at Amherst where he is a starting linebacker and an 
excellent student. Marie is doing well at Montgomery Community College. 
Emmanuel is a star football player at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, 
where he has also made honor roll.
  The Tanjoh/Tikum family are not criminals. They are not terrorists. 
The children fear being uprooted from their true home in the U.S. and 
forced to live in a human rights abusive country which they do not know 
and whose pre-dominant language they do not speak.
  Yet, the INS Government Attorneys have coldly rejected each overture 
for clemency. First, by insisting that the harsher ``exceptional and 
compelling circumstances'' standard applies and that these 
circumstances were neither exceptional nor compelling. Second, by 
stating that the family was not statutorily eligible for permanent 
residence because they overstayed the Board of Immigration Appeals' 
December 17, 2002 Order granting a 30 day voluntary departure period 
even though the INS has never responded to the extension requests and 
even though the family timely pursued their Petition for Review rights 
to the 4th Circuit which only enforced the Board's Order on November 
10, 2003.
  Therefore, today I have introduced a Private Bill that will enable 
Judith Tanjoh and the Tikum children to obtain permanent residency. I 
hope my action today will help bring this heartbreaking story to a 
close.

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