FRESNO HIGH SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN SCHEDULED TO BE DEPORTED
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
June 2, 2008 Monday 4:51 PM GMT
The valedictorian at Fresno’s Bullard High School won’t be attending
college in the United States this fall because he’s scheduled to
be deported.
Seventeen-year-old Arthur Mkoyan’s 4.0 grade-point average qualified
him to enter one of the state’s top universities. But he and his
mother have been ordered back to Armenia after their last appeal for
asylum failed.
The family fled from what used to be part of the Soviet Union and
has been seeking asylum since 1992.
A spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement says they
were given an extension until June 20 so Mkoyan could attend his
graduation ceremony.
A federal bill called the DREAM Act that would have given some
high-performing illegal immigrants legal status to attend college
stalled last year in Congress.