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U.S. to free illegal immigrants from Golden Venture
February 14, 1997
Web posted at: 10:30 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The government has decided to release nearly 300 Chinese illegal immigrants who have been detained since the ship that was smuggling them into the United States ran aground off New York in 1993, a U.S. official said Friday.
When the Golden Venture grounded off the coast of Long Island, 282 would-be immigrants were rescued. They were sent to an Immigration and Naturalization Service detention camp, where they have been held ever since.
Over the next couple of weeks, the Chinese nationals will be released and will be free to remain in the United States "under supervised release" while their cases are being adjudicated, the official said. Only those with criminal records will not be released.
The official said the decision was made by INS, with the support of the White House, for humanitarian and other reasons, including a new U.S. law that has an "expedited exclusion" rule to remove illegal aliens.
Some of the illegal immigrants from the Golden Venture plan to seek political asylum in the United States, the official added. They are citing China's forced-abortion policies for couples who have more than one child.
Senior White House Correspondent Wolf Blitzer contributed to this report.
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