Postscript: Every Six Months Is Suspense for Deportation Target

Maria Sokulska deals with life in six-month blocks.

Sokulska, of Costa Mesa, who had until June 30 to return to her native Poland or face deportation, apparently will get another reprieve. Although it does not fulfill her dream of permanent residence here, she probably will have at least six more months to keep trying.

The “deterioration of the human rights situation (in Poland) in recent months” led the U.S. State Department to recommend that the Immigration and Naturalization Service extend the deportation deadline six months, a department spokesman said.

Has Mixed Feelings

Sokulska said she had mixed feelings about the news. Although it gave her more time, she said, still it was only an extension. “I’ll be so glad when they let me stay,” she said.

The extension, if approved by the INS, will be the latest in a series going back almost four years. “We’ve extended it since December, 1981,” said INS spokesman Duke Austin. The extensions affect Polish nationals who entered the United States before July 21, 1984.

Sokulska left Poland four years. Since then, she has tried to convince the U.S. government to grant her political asylum. A year ago, the government refused and told her to leave by July 13, 1984.

By that time, the date had been pushed to Dec. 31. In late December came another extension, this time to June 30.

Requests Handled Individually

Sokulska and her 9-year-old daughter, Dorothy, are among the approximately 6,000 Poles nationwide affected by the extension, including about 100 in Los Angeles and Orange counties, Austin said. Blanket asylum for the group, or any similar refugee group, was extremely unlikely, he said. Requests are handled individually.

Jaak Treiman, Sokulska’s attorney, said the new extension would allow him to file for reconsideration of Sokulska’s request for political asylum.

Meanwhile, Sokulska will continue working as a full-time housekeeper in Corona del Mar and living in her two-bedroom Costa Mesa apartment as she awaits word from the immigration authorities.

She says she looks forward to her vacation in mid-July when she and Dorothy plan to visit friends in Washington.

Dorothy, who left Poland when she was 6, will finish the fourth grade soon. Fluent in English, she sometimes acts as interpreter for her mother.

Letters From Her Husband

Sokulska said she occasionally receives letters from her husband, Henryk, who remained in Poland and was active in the Solidarity movement, but they usually are devoid of any real information.

“Sometimes he sends me cards with his greetings but he can’t send more . . . (in Poland) everything is controlled,” she said. Sokulska said she is confident her perseverance will pay off and her husband someday can join her here.

“I’m strong and patient,” she said.