Woman facing prison, sterilization over 1-child policy

Xiu Mei Wei

A woman who originally came to the United States for a marriage arranged by her family stayed after being abandoned at the altar, because of the humiliation she would have faced on her return to China. Later, she met someone else, married and now has a family.

But over the years Xiu Mei Wei, pronounced Shoe May Way, has spent contributing to American society, she has failed to do all the immigration paperwork in the right sequence. Now she's facing what many advocates consider the threat of a forced return to China, where she would face a prison sentence and forced sterilization.

Lawyers with the New York law offices of John Chang confirmed to WND today they have submitted a petition to reopen the case to the federal Board of Immigration Appeals, the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws in the nation.

The board itself said it has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals from a wide variety of decisions, rulings and situations.

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"The majority of appeals reaching the BIA involve orders of removal and applications for relief from removal," it explains.

Which is where Xui Mei Wei's case fits in.

Her supporters have posted online an appeal for prayer for her case as it moves through the labyrinth in Washington. It's posted on the website for Leslie Hanks, a passionate pro-life advocate and activist in Colorado.

WND reported earlier when  Xiu was fighting before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to remain. Since then, a spokeswoman in Chang's office told WND the case has moved on to the federal immigration appeals panel.

At the federal court panel in Denver, officials said they were rejecting her appeal for asylum even though previous court rulings have found sympathy when a "'person ... has a well founded fear that … she will be forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization."

Xiu, at that time, told WND her future in China would be impossible, with a forced sterilization, probably jail, and other penalties for having four children, who are American citizens by virtue of their births on U.S. soil.

The website explains, "Although Xiu has been living in the United States, China still recognizes her as a citizen and she is held accountable to their laws, including their one child per family laws. Family planning officialsin China have stated to Xiu's parents that if she returns to China she will be sterilized and fined."

She also possibly would face repercussions because of her widely known support for the underground Christian church – that is, the church groups not registered with and, therefore, not allowed by the Chinese government to exist.

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The website notes she became a Christian in 2004.

"Only after she spends time in prison and after she pays exorbitant fines would her children be able to receive health care, attend school or be employed," it explains.

A spokeswoman for Chang's office told WND that a decision about whether her case would be heard by the federal immigration panel could take from three to six months.

Her children now are 11, 9, 7, and 3, and she confirmed to WND during an earlier interview that the Chinese government could give her prison time simply because her children exist.

Her petition campaign to remain in the U.S. started after the birth of her second child, since that birth put her in violation of China's population controls. Initially rejected, she refiled, only to be turned down again.

WND reported earlier on a woman who lost her first child to China's forced-abortion policy after she became pregnant without permission.

Shiu Yon Zhou, whose ordeal has been presented to Congress, reported on her own tragedy just as the 2008 Olympics were under way in Beijing.

She said that in 1993 her neighbor reported to police that she appeared to be pregnant without authorization, and police officers broke down the door of her family's home to take her in shackles to a hospital where she was given a "pill" and locked up.

She told WND her father bribed a nurse to look the other way and she jumped from a second-story window then fled with some family members to escape China on a fishing boat with dozens of other women. There were men, too, since those whose wives were found guilty in such cases often lost their jobs and homes as a penalty.

She reported her parents now live in another location in China under assumed names, and she conceals her residency location in the U.S. because of concerns over retaliation for her outspoken condemnation of forced abortion.

She ended up losing her child.

WND previously documented the horror of China's forced abortions.

According to the China Aid Association, during one day in 2007 officials at the Youjiang District People's Hospital of Baise City performed forced abortions on 41 women, with another 20 victimized the next day.

China Aid, which has its U.S. offices in Midland, Texas, said eyewitnesses confirmed the actions by government "Family Planning" authorities.

"Within 30 minutes, about 10 of them were injected forcefully for an abortion. This means within [the] last 24 hours, at least 61 babies were killed by forced abortions," the sources within China told CAA.

"At bed Number 37, Ms. He Caigan was nine months pregnant. Officials injected her baby's head and 20 minutes later, her baby stopped moving and died," the sources said.

Many of the women targeted in the killing rampage were Christians, CAA said.

First reported by WND in 1997, what has come to be known as "gendercide" in China – due to a cultural preference for boys – has resulted in the deaths of at least 50 million girls.

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