Request for INS Report Halts Action Against Mexican Couple : Senate Panel Blocks Deportation of Illegal Aliens Who Won Home

A congressional subcommittee Friday blocked the deportation of a Mexican couple in Kansas City, Mo., who came to the attention of immigration authorities after they won a house in a drawing.

The Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration and refugee policy asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to submit a report explaining the plight of Jose and Silvia Carmona, the parents of four American-born children.

Deportation Date Set

Without the panel’s action, the couple would have been forced to leave the country by Feb. 23.

“We are asking for a report from the Immigration Service so they won’t be put out of the U.S.,” Franzetta DeGooyer, a subcommittee staff member, said.

The request halts all immigration proceedings in the case, including enforcement of the deportation order. The report will be used by the panel in considering legislation introduced last week to permit the Carmonas to remain permanently in the United States. Missouri Sens. Thomas F. Eagleton, a Democrat, and John C. Danforth, a Republican, sponsored the measure.

The reprieve will continue until the legislation is killed or, if nothing is done by lawmakers, until the 99th Congress adjourns in two years, DeGooyer said.

Story in Newspaper

Immigration officials discovered the Carmonas, who have lived illegally in this country since 1977, after a story and photograph appeared in a Kansas City newspaper last year explaining how they had won a house in a church drawing.

Last month, an immigration board dismissed the Carmonas’ appeal of a ruling that they leave the country or be deported.