STATEMENT OF PHILIP EWAYS AND LEILA HURMILA EWAYS SUMMARY This is the testimony of Philip Eways, a United States citizen, and his wife, Leila Hurmila Eways, who was born in Finland. As a result of Leila's membership in the Communist Party of Finland as a college student from 1976 to 1978, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") attempted to deport Leila and to break up our family, which included a new-born baby son. These attempts were based on the McCarran-Walter Act. We were married in December 1984. Our first application for permanent residence for Leila, in January 1985, was denied on the ground of Leila's past affiliation with the communist party. She was ordered to depart from the United States. Our second application, in March 1986, was denied on the ground of inadequate evidence of "active opposition" to communism. "Active opposition" was never defined, but we were nevertheless expected to satisfy this standard. After this application was denied also, the INS initiated deportation proceedings to expel Leila from the United States. Although the INS ultimately reversed its decision and granted Leila permanent resident status in January 1987, our lives suffered great emotional and financial damage as a result of the McCarran-Walter Act. We lost our family business, were unable to plan our future in this country, and were terrified of the prospect of losing each other and being separated from our baby son. Our dignity and rights were violated and, our faith in the ideals of freedom of speech has been profoundly changed. 20-670 - 89 - 3 This is the testimony of Philip Eways, a native of the United States, and his wife Leila Hurmila Eways, a native of Finland, and our struggle to gain permanent resident status for Leila as the wife of a United States citizen. As this testimony will show, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, on the basis of the prevailing McCarran-Walter Act, attempted for two years to break up our family by ordering Leila twice to be expelled. This caused us enormous and unjust emotional and financial hardships that were shocking in their contrast to what we had assumed to be the American heritage of freedom and the American value of inseparability of a family. Leila Hurmila Eways was born in Pori, Finland, to middle class working parents. Although her parents were apolitical, as well as non-religious, she was brought up to be aware and informed of a multitude of social conditions and beliefs. From 1975 till 1978 she attended Tampere University in Finland, majoring in social psychology. The In 1976, she joined the communist party of Finland. party is one of 14 or 15 legitimate political parties in the country. It is an integral and respected part of Finland's multifaceted democratic scene and is represented in the Parliament and, occasionally, the Cabinet. Being a member or supporter of the communist party is not considered a deviation or act against organized government. In the 1970's the communist movement in Finland, as in much of Western Europe, was intertwined with the international peace movement, the anti nuclear movement, and other movements for bettering general social conditions. Although we do not consider it relevant to this testimony, Leila joined the communist party because she agreed with many of those social concerns rather than with the party's ideological doctrines. In the 70's, the communist movement in Finland was at the peak of its popularity, especially among Finnish high school and college students, who traditionally tend to be more politically oriented and active than the American youth. Leila's membership in the party remained brief, consisting of only a few routine attendances in monthly meetings. Later, in 1978, she officially terminated her membership. During 1978, her final year in college, she traveled extensively in Western Europe, and finally decided to accept a friend's invitation to visit the United States. She received a visa in September 1978. It is important to mention that even in that very first application she did not conceal her membership in the communist party, but answered all relevant questions in the application forms truthfully. She entered the United States with the intention of returning to Finland to work and study. However, by the end of 1978 she had become convinced of her desire to continue her education in New York, which offered a multitude of academic institutions and an intellectual and cultural climate beyond comparison. Leila enrolled at the New School for Social Research in January 1979 and received an M.A. degree in psychology in January 1981. She had just decided to pursue her Ph.D. as well when we met and she decided to postpone those plans. It soon became clear that we wanted a life together and would soon want to start a family. We were married in December 1984. In January 1985 we filed an application with the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York to obtain permanent resident status for Leila. We were not represented by counsel at this time, and had no idea what was about to happen to our lives, to our finances and to our plans to live together as a family in the United States. We were expecting our first child in September 1985. As a part of the application process, there was an interview with an INS official. The official reviewed Leila's passport and application and immediately became hostile saying: "As a communist you will never be permitted to stay in the United States." As before, Leila had truthfully revealed her previous membership. But she had also made clear that she had terminated it in 1978, more than five years earlier. The official's tone softened somewhat after seeing our shock and disbelief. We were advised to submit an account of the brief nature of Leila's membership. Leila After months of waiting, Leila's application for resident status was denied in January 1986. The sole basis for the denial was her past membership in the communist party of Finland. was ordered to leave the United States by February 27, 1986, within a month. By then, our son Eric had been born. Leila was |