Some Immigration Bills Aim for Little Victories

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who sponsored two unsuccessful private bills to help Jarno in previous sessions, said he wanted to send "a very strong signal to immigration authorities" that Jarno had "not received just treatment." Jarno's case is now back in court.

No pending private immigration bills are sponsored by members of the Washington region's congressional delegation.

The most prolific sponsors are Democrats. Levin has eight pending; Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has nine. Feinstein's cases include three her staffers say were botched by immigration lawyers and the case of Jacqueline W. Coats, a Kenyan whose American husband died saving two children from drowning in San Francisco Bay days before Coats's green card application was filed.

"In the immigration world, there are heartbreaking stories of people who face hardship through no fault of their own," Feinstein said in a statement. "Sometimes it is important to step back, be human and act with compassion."

Among the Republican sponsors is Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), who helped prepare this year's Senate immigration bill and later cast a vote that contributed to its defeat. Another is Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), an outspoken critic of "amnesty" for illegal immigrants and champion of the Mexican border fence. Hunter, a presidential candidate, sponsored Fouad Yousef Hakim Mansour and Saheir Gamil Shaker Mansour, Coptic Christians who fled religious persecution in Egypt, overstayed visitor visas and lived illegally in the United States for 10 years before applying unsuccessfully for asylum. They recently won permanent residency in Canada.

Asked if the private bill would have granted the Mansours "amnesty," Hunter's spokesman, Joe Kasper, said Hunter decides private bills on a "case-by-case basis."

Hunter "couldn't knowingly turn his back on the Mansours," Kasper said. "This is one of those situations where the end result quite possibly could have been death."

Some observers say plenty of immigrants have similarly compelling reasons to stay but lack access to lawmakers. That disparity is one reason private bills should be axed, said Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor.

"Awarding special treatment often leaves the legal or administrative problem untouched," Turley said . " If a person was unable to get relief, then new avenues of relief should be created for all such persons."

Gillmor said private bills should be "very rare." To help people like Bartsch, Gillmor said, he has sponsored legislation that would provide green cards to some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children.

Jason Peltz, the Vangs' attorney, said their case is without parallel.

Genevieve Vang, 42, and her husband fled Laos's communist government for France in the 1970s. After Guy Vang learned that his siblings were in the United States, the Vangs came to this country with their two daughters in 1990. They applied for asylum and were told for the next decade that their case was pending. When their file was unearthed, Peltz said, the Vangs were told that their application was rejected because they were already citizens of a "safe haven" -- France. Their appeals were denied.

Meanwhile, they opened a popular Dearborn, Mich., restaurant and had two more children. The delay forced them to put down roots, Peltz said. "When an immigrant messes up, the government can deport them," Peltz said. "When the government messes up, there's no remedy."

Vang said she is not sure whether other illegal immigrants should be helped. But she is sure about her family, which she said has no ties to France. "This is a mistake of paperwork, but it's not from my side," Vang said in a telephone interview. "They should know that and just fix it."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.