FEATURED NEWS ITEM

Prepared and Distributed by the Polonia Media Network

POLISH-BORN STUDENT DEPORTED BY

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Monroe, Connecticut (PMN)—Paulina Krynska, a 19-year-old resident of Monroe, Connecticut, left for Poland on December 15, 2011, after an unsuccessful attempt to overturn a deportation order.

Krynska, a student at Naugatuck Valley Community College, came to the United States on a tourist visa when she was 11. She joined her parents, who had arrived about a year earlier. She had been staying in the country on various extended visas. While applying for a “green card” multiple times, she was denied because she got bad advice from previous lawyers, according to her family.

Green cards are issued to aliens who have been determined to qualify as lawful permanent residents.

In June, she received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security that said she was here illegally and was “removable.” Krynska then signed a voluntary deportation agreement, but later reached out to public officials to get her case reopened. The agreement required that she leave by December 16.

She received help from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), but was ultimately unable to convince Homeland Security she should be allowed to stay.

Her mother, Ewa Krynska, said she plans to live with her grandparents, but because her Polish language skills are limited, she may have difficulty attending college classes and getting a job. Paulina Krynska also has diabetes and her mother said in a previous interview that she was worried she may not get adequate medical care.