Former LIS student worker in jail, may be deported

Hoa Nguyen, an outstanding former LIS student worker and 2003 Luther grad, is currently in jail in Elk River, MN after missing a court date regarding her immigration status. She may be deported to Vietnam within two weeks. Hoa married Luther grad Dan Hanson last fall in Minneapolis, and traveled to Vietnam for a marriage ceremony with Hoa’s family in 2009, but was stopped by immigration officials upon her return due to Hoa’s change in immigration status. Her status was as a graduate student, but she’d taken time off from pursuing her doctorate in French Literature at the University of Minnesota to return to Vietnam. Hoa has a Masters in French Literature from the University of Minnesota, and was also a teaching assistant.
If you’d like to read more about Hoa’s situation, please go to http://www.hoadefense.org/ .
Letters to Minnesota U.S. Senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, as well as Minnesota U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, are available from Rene’ Donlan, if you’d like to lend your support. The letters request that Franken, Klobuchar, or Ellison sponsor a personal bill on Hoa’s behalf to allow her to remain in the U.S. while these immigration issues can reconsidered.