Family celebrates stay of deportation

Fatiha Elgharib hugs her son, Sami Hamdi. Elgharib was recently released after spending five month in prison for failing to make a court appearance concerning her residency. She still is facing deportation to her native country of Morocco.

Staff photo by Jim Noelker Fatiha Elgharib hugs her son, Sami Hamdi. Elgharib was recently released after spending five month in prison for failing to make a court appearance concerning her residency. She still is facing deportation to her native country of Morocco.

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By Mary McCarty, Staff Writer 1:02 AM Thursday, May 21, 2009

Fatiha Elgharib expected to have been deported to her native Morocco by now, settling into a routine of living with her mother — and apart from her husband and four children.

Instead, the family is looking forward to a weekend of celebration beginning with a community “thank you party” Friday night, May 22, and ending with oldest daughter Sara Hamdi’s graduation from Northmont High School.

“I’m ecstatic,” said 18-year-old Sara, who plans to attend Sinclair Community College. “I’m really excited for my graduation now. If she wasn’t there it would be just another day. I wouldn’t be up for it.”

Elgharib’s husband, Youssef Hamdi, is feeling profound relief that he hasn’t been separated from his wife and the children haven’t been torn from their stay-at-home mother.

Elgharib left her Englewood home April 2, expecting to board a plane in Columbus that would take her back to Morocco.

She said goodbye to her four children, including 6-year-old Sami, who has Down syndrome.

He didn’t understand the situation, but family members said his mother’s sorrow and anxiety had affected his normally sunny disposition.

That has all changed since immigration officials granted her last-minute motion for a stay.

“Sami has gone back to his normal, happy, smiley self,” said Denise Hamdi, Elgharib’s sister-in-law. “He’s back to his ‘No, Mom!’ independent little Sami. We’re so thankful people have understood and cared about her plight.”

Immigration experts say that humanitarian measures are built into the law, but rarely exercised. The family’s attorney, George Katchmer of Yellow Springs, said that Sen. George Voinovich intervened in the last 48 hours before Elgharib’s scheduled deportation.

“I’m convinced it was the community’s concern that got the senator involved,” Denise Hamdi said.

The family also credits the intervention of the Council for American-Islamic Relations, a national organization, on her behalf.

Katchmer said he is exploring legal options to keep Elgharib, her husband and two oldest daughters in the country permanently.

Sami and his 9-year-old sister, Wafaa, are American citizens.

The family entered the country legally more than 10 years ago and registered regularly with immigration officials.

Deportation proceedings were initiated against Elgharib when she failed to make a court appearance that was sent to an old address.

She spent five months in jail in late 2007, but was released for humanitarian reasons.

“The stay has given us a big breather,” Katchmer said. “I feel better about their situation, but with immigration I’m never comfortable until we get the desired result.”

This weekend, however, the Elgharib-Hamdi family will take time out to celebrate their hard-won togetherness.

They’re inviting friends and supporters to the party taking place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at FOP Lodge 104 at 3115 Stop Eight Road in Vandalia.

“We just want to show joy and thankfulness and gratitude,” Denise Hamdi said. “Without the community, this never would have happened.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2209 or mmccarty@Dayton DailyNews.com.

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