Speech #1100009218

Matthew. was born seven weeks premature. He subsequently underwent several kidney surgeries and is still being closely monitored by physicians. Compounding these tragedies is the fact that today the Fulops face deportation. They face deportation. in part. because in 1995 the family traveled to Hungary and remained there for more than 90 days. Under the pre1996 immigration law. prior to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. their stay in Hungary would not have been a factor in their immigration case and they would have been eligible for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residents. Indeed. in 1996. Mr. and Mrs. Fulop applied to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) for permanent resident status. Due to large backlogs. the INS did not interview them until 1998. By the time their applications were considered. the new 1996 immigration law had taken effect. Given their onetime 90 day trip outside the United States. they were statutorily ineligible for relief pursuant to the cancellation of removal provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. One cannot help but conclude that had the INS acted on the Fulops application for relief from deportation in a timelier manner. they would have qualified for suspension of deportation under the pre1996 law. given that they were longterm residents of the United States with U.S. citizen children and many positive factors in their favor. The irony of this situation is that the Fulops were gone from the United States for nearly five months in 1995 because they traveled to Hungary to help Mr. Fulops brother build his home.