 POWER OF EXPEDITED REMOVAL HITS HOME FOR FLORIDA FAMILY
The power of expedited removal, which was given to INS inspectors at ports of entry in the 1996 immigration law and allows them to deny a person entry to the US with no appeal, has been sharply criticized since its creation. A recent incident in Florida has brought the issue home to one family. Renata Sadej, a Florida resident, was planning a summer vacation with her cousin from Poland.
The cousin, Bozena Weglinski, was denied entry, because, she claims, the INS believed that her hands, which were rough and cracked, were a sign that she was coming to the US to work. The INS says that she admitted to working illegally on a previous trip to the US and agreed to return to Poland. She was detained overnight and put on the next flight back to Poland.
Weglinski’s US family disagrees with this depiction of the events. They say that she has never worked in the US, and would not state otherwise to the immigration inspector. According to Sadej, her cousin was interviewed using a translator by telephone, and was made to sign numerous documents she did not understand. Sadej says Weglinski was not told the documents she was signing were authorizing her expedited removal back to Poland.
During her last visit to the US, Weglinski did care for an ailing family member, but did not work outside of the home.
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