My staff have recommended to me based on that review that there are sufficient grounds to introduce private relief legislation and ask Chairman KENNEDY to request a report from the INS regarding the case. thus staying. at least temporarily. Mr. Malekls imminent deportation back to Iran. Chairman KENNEDY has agreed to request such a formal report. Since taking office. I have been careful to introduce immigrationrelated private relief legislation only in extraordinary cases. I believe this is such a case. where great and potentially permanent harm could be done to Mr. Malekis family were he to be deported. since they have concluded that they could not return to Iran together for fear of persecution. and thus would be forced to separate. My primary concern in this case has been to balance the best interests of the U.S. citizen family members. including Mr. Malekis two young children. with the public interest of ensuring fair and consistent application of the law. I have concluded that these children. and their mother. would face truly extraordinary hardship if he were to be deported. and that no reasonable public interest which outweighs this hardship would be served by his immediate deportation. In making this decision. I want to underscore that my intention is not to substitute my judgment for that of the immigration authorities who have worked on this case for years. But in assessing the potentially devastating effect that separating Mr. Maleki from his family would have. and considering the evidence available to me. including some new evidence that I understand the appeals court was unable to consider for procedural reasons. and the very high standards of review which tightly constrained the discretion of the BIA and the eighth circuit.
Keywords matched
immigration deportation deported immigrationrelated