Kirubanesam, Jennifer and Julian Anandarajah
By H. Nelson Goodson
March 27, 2014
Newark, New Jersey - Both Julian and Kirubanesam Anandarajah, originally from Sri Lanka who belong to the ethnic group Tamils are facing deportation by April 8. Their daughter, Jennifer Anandarajah is a registered DREAMer who might be forced to leave the U.S., if her parents get deported.
The Anandarajah's entered the country in 2003 to escape the Sri Lankan civil war and had petitioned 3 times for asylum for fear of being prosecuted and killed, if they were deported back to their country. The asylum petitions were denied by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) due to lack of evidence that they would face discrimination, torture and death, if deported to Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Sinhalese government is accused of killing more than 40,000 Tamils at the end of their 30 year civil war, which ended in May 2009. Most Tamil Tigers had surrendered or were taken alive, but were put to death by the thousands while bound and women were brutally raped during an ethnic cleansing order by the ruling government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The United Nations is investigating the mass killings of unarmed Tamil civilians in the weeks leading to the end of the war and will most likely bring war crime charges against the high military command, officials and the head of the government.
In 2010 and then last year, the Channel 4 News UK exposed video of some of the Tamil civilians killed. Photos and videos from government soldiers surfaced showing the brutal killings and bodies of dead civilians in shallow mass graves.
On September 9, 2006, Julian accompanied his wife to an immigration hearing and was arrested by ICE. His lawyer apparently didn't file for stay of deportation and Julian spent three years in ICE detention.
In mid 2009, julian was released and place on an electronic ankle monitoring bracelet for five years.
His case was mentioned to President Barack H. Obama last week when a group for immigration reform activists were invited to meet with Obama. Since, the meeting, the Obama administration has done nothing to grant the Anandarajah's a stay. But Obama agreed, he would order a review of deportation procedures of cases.
On Thursday, DREAMers and the Sri Lankan community in Newark will rally at the Newark ICE Field Office, 614 Freylinghuysen Ave. in Newark, New Jersey to called for ICE to grant a stay and avoid the deportation of the Anandarajah family.
The March 27 ralley will start at 11:30 a.m. and will run until 2:30 p.m., according to Communities United from New Jersey.
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