wfn.org | Coalition on Immigrants' Rights

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3370 notes).

Note 3370 by UMNS on Jan. 10, 1997 at 13:07 Eastern (3559 characters).

SEARCH: immigrants, asylum, Golden Venture
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                       16(10-21-33-71B){3370}
          New York (212) 870-3803                    Jan. 10, 1997

People of Golden Vision
focuses on asylum seekers

     NEW YORK (umns) -- An organization that began in 1993 to
assist detained Chinese immigrants has expanded into an interfaith
coalition focusing on immigrants' rights.
     With 51 organizations as members, People of the Golden Vision
specifically is concerned about people who arrive in the United
States to seek asylum, according to the Rev. Joan Maruskin,
coordinator.
     "There are thousands of them that are being held in detention
centers around the country," she explained. 
     Maruskin, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Yoe,
Pa., helped form People of the Golden Vision after a ship
smuggling in Chinese immigrants, the Golden Venture, ran aground
in Queens, N.Y. Many of the more than 200 Chinese detained were
held in York County Prison in central Pennsylvania.
     Since that time, Maruskin's organization has worked for their
release and fought to improve prison conditions for detainees. "As
we traveled around the country, we saw there were human rights
abuses (in prisons)," she said. Those abuses included beatings and
the use of chains and shackles.
     Two 40-year-old men from the Golden Venture -- Chen Fen Hua
and Zheng Xin Bin -- were released Jan. 3 after spending three and
a half years in the York County Prison. The release was the result
of a new federal law, passed last fall, which allows asylum for up
to 1,000 immigrants a year who face the threat of forced
sterilization or abortion in their home country.
      Another 58 Golden Venture passengers remain in detention. 
     "The legislation, we thought, would have basically released
the great majority of them," Maruskin said. But, she added, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) "was true to their
colors" and did not agree to a mass release.
     According to Maruskin, the INS is counting upon
nongovernmental organizations to help with reviews of those cases.
People of the Golden Vision, for example, are acting as lay
interviewers.
     Even detainees who did not leave China for family planning
reasons, would face threats if they returned there, she claimed.
"We're looking at third-country resettlements for them."
     The organization is continuing its assistance with legal
services for detainees, its development of cultural and
educational programs to foster a positive outlook about new
immigrants, its monitoring of facilities where the INS houses
detainees, and its conversations with the INS about concerns over
detention reform and the asylum process.
     People of the Golden Vision currently is buying a home to
serve as an "international friendship" house, providing
transitional lodging and services for immigrants released from
detention who have no other support. The Church of the Brethren
has contributed $25,000 for the down payment and the United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) has given $5,000.
                              #  #  #

     EDITORS NOTE: More information about the organization is
available by writing People of the Golden Vision, 41 S. Main St.,
Stewartstown, PA 17363. The phone/fax number is (717) 993-5511 and
the e-mail address is maruskin@cyberia.com.

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