Elderly Couple Detained in Virginia

go to: http://www.stopdetention.org/ to send the fax

Please help our family!

On June 22, 2005 -- the day of their son's graduation from high school
-- there was a knock on my Uncle Gokal and Aunt Shiela's door. Several
uniformed officers from the Department of Homeland Security were
outside, and told my cousin they needed to bring his parents in for
questioning, and that they would bring them back in just a few hours.
A week later, our family members languish in a detention center in
northern Virginia. No one knows why they are in detention. They are in
their 70s, and in failing health. They are truly kind and gentle people,
and have done nothing wrong. We have been told nothing about why they are
there and when or if they'll get out. They have not been charged with
anything. We are extremely concerned about their health and their
ability to deal with the harsh conditions of the detention facility.

After experiencing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Gokal and
Shiela, who are from a small religious minority, applied for asylum in the
United States almost a decade ago. They did everything right -
obtaining work permits, paying their taxes, and enrolling their son in one of
the best school districts in Virginia. Gokal and Shiela began working at
an age when most Americans would retire, so they could provide for
their only son. They worked, lived, and settled into a community full of
family and friends who cared for them, loved them and supported them, and
lived quiet lives, following all the rules of their new country. We
want them back with us, safe and sound!

Please take a few minutes and send a fax through this website, asking
the United States to release our family Gokal and Shiela, and reunite
them with their son and our family. We are asking for faxes to be sent to
the congresspeople in Virginia, where they are being held without
cause. You can use the template letter below, edit it, or write your own
letter. If you are not from Virginia, we encourage you to use this form,
and then to also contact your own senators and representatives. You can
find them by entering your Zip code at
http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/. THANK YOU!

(text of fax)

Dear _____________, (sent to President Bush, VA Senators Allen and
Warner, and VA Representative Wolf)

I urge you to immediately work towards the release of Gokal and Shiela
Kapoor from the Pamunkey Detention Center in Virginia where they are
being held.

Gokal and Shiela are frail, elderly asylum seekers from a religious
minority in Afghanistan. They were recently taken from their home and are
being held without due process, charges or cause.

Family and friends are extremely concerned about their health and their
ability to deal with the harsh conditions of the detention facility.
Neither their son nor their family knows when they will be released or
what will happen to them.

After experiencing religious persecution as Hindus in Afghanistan,
Gokal and Shiela applied for asylum in the United States almost a decade
ago. They did everything right - obtaining work permits, paying their
taxes, and enrolling their son in one of the best school districts in
Virginia. Gokal and Shiela began working at an age when most Americans
would retire, so they could provide for their only son.

This is a family that truly believed in the American dream - that the
United States would provide them a safe haven. Instead, they find
themselves arrested secretly in the middle of the night and held in
indefinite detention.

I urge you to work towards bringing them back to their family today.

Sincerely,

(your name will be added automatically)

If you have time, phone calls are very effective, or you can also send
letters through the regular mail to the following addresses. If you
call or write, please let us know by emailing sitara [at] stopdetention.org.

President George Bush
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500
(202) 456-1111
Senator George Allen (R - VA)
204 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-4024

Senator John Warner (R - VA)
225 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington DC 20510
(202) 224-2023

Representative Frank Wolf (R - VA)
241 Cannon Office Building, Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-5136

Thank you so much for your support of our family -- and for trying to
help get Gokal and Shiela out of the detention prison. For more
information, or with questions, sitara [at] stopdetention.org