Chinese consulate concerned over woman's misfortune in U.S.

Jiang Zhenxing, an illegal Chinese immigrant in the United States, lost her twin fetuses while being forcibly deported by officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) on Feb. 7, 2006.

Having severe pain in the abdomen at the airport, Jiang made repeated requests before finally taken to hospital. However, her unborn twins died.

Chinese Deputy Consul General to New York Cui Aimin visited Jiang at hospital. Cui said the Chinese consulate is highly concerned over the matter and is actively in contact with the U.S. authorities concerned.

Twin fetuses dead in their mother

33-year-old Jiang Zhenxing, who was pregnant for three months, is from Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province. She went to the U.S. through irregular means. Eight years ago, she married a fellow surnamed Zhang. They ran a take-out restaurant in Philadelphia and raised two sons. In the past two years, Jiang's immigration status has been under the watch of the U.S. immigration authorities and she has to regularly report to local immigration office.

On Feb. 7, Jiang was suddenly informed that she will be forcibly deported. Later she was driven to Kennedy Airport by two officers.

According to Jiang after the accident, she got bumped on the abdomen and had severe pain there. After requests once and again, she was delivered to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York.

While Jiang was on the way to the hospital, her husband Zhang Tianxiao in Philadelphia still knew nothing about it. He wasn't informed until 1:00 a.m. on Feb. 8 when he was told that his wife hasn't left America and she is in hospital. With the information, Zhang drove deep at night and made it to the hospital at dawn on Feb. 8.

Chinese consulate highly concerned over the matter

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chinese Deputy Consul General to New York Cui Aimin visited Jiang immediately. Cui said the consulate is highly concerned over the matter and now it has taken hold of the general situation. Now the consulate is further contacting the U.S. authorities concerned so as to decide how to offer further assistance to Jiang's family.

Cui added that Jiang is not under legal residency in the U.S., but as Jiang is a Chinese citizen, the Chinese consulate is responsible for offering active and effective consular protection for her. China hopes the legitimate rights and interests of the party involved can be fully respected in the process of law enforcement. If humanitarian principle is violated and the basic human rights and dignity of the party concerned is damaged, the Chinese consulate will lodge a solemn representation through relevant means.

The hospital has not given a conclusion on whether the death of Jiang's unborn twins was directly caused by the forcible deportation. The New York Times on Feb. 10 reported that officers' violence over illegal immigrants during law enforcement is a problem that the U.S. government should pay attention to and shouldn't be continued.

Presently the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the USICE have said they are sorry for Jaing's misfortune and they will investigate into the matter on whether the officers involved behaved improperly during law enforcement.

By People's Daily Online