I praise the decision of the Southern District Court of Florida for the order handed down that would prevent the removal of tens of thousands of Nicaraguans, and other Central Americans in similar circumstances, who fled here more than ten years ago from civil war for protection offered in the United States. These are individuals who, while living among us, establishing roots in our communities, and building families in our neighborhoods, have been stranded in a legal limbo awaiting action on their claims. They fear the effect of recent immigration legislation that would jeopardize their very lives as they face possible deportation.

As Archbishop Favalora of Miami said in his March 27, 1997, statement, "We should not change the rules in the middle of the game. Those who have been in the United States and have lived here for many years -- raising families and contributing by their sweat and labor to the growth of our nation -- should not be included in laws which were meant to discourage future [illegal] immigration."

The ruling of Judge King demonstrates the appropriate sensitivity to the individual lives that this class action represents. We urge the Administration and the U.S. Attorney General to accept this ruling and not to appeal the court's decision to permit justice to take its course for thousands of American children and their families.

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