Released, but not free

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Hanan Ismail has only seen her 9-month-old grandson in pictures.

Plans to visit the child, who lives in another state, were swept away Feb. 22 when Ismail, her husband and their 20-year-old daughter were taken from their Lynnwood home and placed in detention for alleged immigration violations.

Now, she’ll get the chance to see the baby boy, who recently took his first steps, said Rita Zawaideh, president of the Seattle-based Arab American Community Coalition.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service released Ismail and her daughter Monday for humanitarian reasons. Ismail was released under supervision, while her daughter, Nadin Hamoui, was released on $5,000 bail.

Although family members are celebrating the release of the women, their focus remains on the father, Safouh Hamoui, who remains in detention.

INS spokesman Courtney Garrison said agency officials do not believe Safouh Hamoui is a good candidate for release, given pending court cases and the fact that the family still could be deported.

Safouh Hamoui, an Edmonds grocer, believes he would be tortured or killed if returned to his home country of Syria.

"I can’t push myself to think what might happen," Nadin Hamoui said. "My mind won’t go that way."

Family members and advocates say the Hamoui family, which has lived in Snohomish County for 10 years, was unfairly targeted as part of a nationwide initiative that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Immigration officials say the family was picked up like any others who might be in the country illegally.

"This case is different in that they relied on legal advice," said Julia Devin, an attorney working with the family.

Devin said the family had "nine years of ineffective counsel." Unfortunately, she said, the previous attorney never sought a stay to keep the family in the country while a request to reopen the case was pending.

The family, including Rham Hamoui, 15; Mouhamed Hamoui, 13; and Sam Hamoui, 24, talked to reporters Tuesday at a press conference in Seattle.

"I wish my dad was here with us today," Sam Hamoui said. "I hope that day will come soon."

The family’s store, the Seattle Mediterranean Market on Highway 99 in Edmonds, has been closed for more than a month, Sam Hamoui said, adding that it’s been tough financially. However, the family hoped to reopen the store soon.

Sam Hamoui thanked the community for its support.

"God did a miracle on us," he said, adding that he really doesn’t know how some bills got paid.

Nadin Hamoui’s bail was posted on Monday by the Arab American Community Coalition, which previously raised about $23,000 to help pay the family’s legal fees.

"We still have a lot more to go," said Zawaideh of the Arab American Community Coalition. "We still have another $33,000" in legal fees.

While in detention, Nadin Hamoui wrote several letters pleading with officials to release her mother, who suffers from Crohn’s disease, she said. In detention, Ismail was taken to the hospital several times because of inflammation of the intestines, which can be irritated by stress, she said.

Nadin Hamoui said the situation makes her sad and angry. While in detention, she was not able to see her sister, Rham Hamoui.

"A whole year of my life has been wasted," she said.

Rham Hamoui said she didn’t even recognize her sister Monday, but was glad to see her.

Rham Hamoui, who was 3 years old when the family moved to the United States, said the situation is hard to put into words. She’s worried the courts will not understand her family’s case.

"I can’t speak Arabic or write it," she said. "If I go back to Syria, my life will be thrown away."