Bid for Asylum by Chinese Student Stalled

An immigration judge Friday postponed a decision on a Chinese woman’s application for political asylum, dashing the hopes of Chen Yiwei that her six-week detention in an Inglewood facility since fleeing China would soon come to an end.

Chen, 22, sobbed quietly as she and her attorney, Dorothy Harper, stood at the close of a hearing at which Immigration and Naturalization Service Judge Ingrid K. Hrycenko decided to postpone a ruling until Aug. 18. The judge continued the hearing because a letter from the State Department stating whether Chen should be released had not arrived, Harper said.

Chen, who said she has been in poor health, was taken back to the federal detention center near Los Angeles International Airport where she has been held since June 24.

Authorities said doctors must examine her before a decision can be issued on a request that Harper made Friday to release Chen on bail pending next week’s hearing.

While she waits, supporters in the Chinese community in Southern California said they will try to raise money to cover her anticipated $5,000 bail. They said they are not discouraged by the delay in deciding Chen’s case.

“I know there are legal procedures,” said George Mo of the Western American Assn. of Chinese Political Refugees, which is based in Rosemead. “I think it’s normal. We don’t think she will have to wait much longer. We know there will be a happy ending.”

However, “If the judge denies her application, then the Goddess of Democracy will surely cry,” Mo said.

An attorney for the INS said the State Department letter was crucial to Chen’s application for asylum.

“In the regulations, according to the code, the judge can’t make the decision unless the State Department (letter) is available,” said Kee Ling, the INS attorney who handled Chen’s case. “I have no idea why there was a delay.”

Ling also said that a medical examination is necessary in order to protect the INS from liability should Chen become seriously ill while free on bail. He said the examination will be done by Monday evening.

Mo said Harper telephoned him from court Friday to ask if the group could raise $5,000 to post bail for Chen next week. Although the 40-member association is not flush with funds, members promised Harper that they would try to raise the amount from others throughout Los Angeles.

Fearing reprisals against family members still in China, Chen shunned publicity Friday, ducking her head and covering her face with her arm as she was escorted past reporters and camera crews.

Chen, a student from the southern Chinese city of Xiamen in Fujian province, said she went to Beijing by train in late May to join pro-democracy protesters. After the bloody military crackdown that began in Beijing June 3, Chen said, she and other protesters returned home only to learn that they were wanted by the government for “counter-revolutionary” activities.

She then fled the country on a forged passport. Upon arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, she was taken into custody by U.S. Customs agents who seized the passport.

Chen is one of six Chinese nationals being detained in the Los Angeles area, officials said.

Able to speak only a few words of English, Chen said she has had a difficult time communicating with guards and other detainees at the Inglewood facility.

In particular, Chen said in a telephone interview Thursday, she has been suffering from nausea and has had trouble making her needs known to administrators at the detention center.

She said a major source of support and comfort during her six-week detention has been the visits she has received from members of the Chinese political refugees group. Volunteers visit her once a week and help supply materials so she can learn English.