FRESNO, Calif. – Arthur Mkoyan, the Bullard High School valedictorian who may be deported to Armenia this month, is counting on letters of support from across the state and nation to help him.

Arthur, 17, of Fresno, Calif., pleaded to classmates, friends and teachers at his hometown Bullard High School on Friday to write letters to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein encouraging her to introduce legislation that would enable him and his parents to stay in the United States.

Friday was his last day of class at the school. Arthur will graduate Tuesday at the Save Mart Center.

The valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average drew attention across the nation after his story first appeared in The Fresno Bee newspaper. Arthur has been planning to attend the University of California at Davis, where he has been accepted.

The letters of support are important, Arthur said.

“It’s to convince the people who are judging the private bill,” Arthur said Friday. “Hopefully, they will introduce the bill by the end of next week so all of us can stay.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ordered Arthur and his mother to leave the United States by late June and return to Armenia, a country Arthur hasn’t seen since he was 2. His 12-year-old brother, a U.S. citizen, has no other choice but to leave with Arthur and his mother if they’re deported, the family has said.

Arthur’s family fled the former Soviet Union and has been seeking asylum since 1992.

Arthur’s father, Ruben Mkoian, ran a general store and worked as a police officer in the then-Soviet Republic of Armenia, where he was threatened by former Soviet government workers as the Soviet Union was breaking up, Arthur’s mother has said.

Mkoian applied for asylum but was rejected. Mkoian, who spells his name differently than does his son, appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.

He lost his appeal. Mkoian is being held at a detention center in Arizona.

Feinstein, who has introduced private bills in the past, is gathering Arthur’s information to introduce a bill on his behalf, according to Feinstein’s office in Washington, D.C. Feinstein’s office is still waiting on some information from Arthur’s family, such as letters from the school and church that provide a picture of their situation.

“The most important thing for them is to get as much information as they can so Feinstein can make a decision,” said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Feinstein.

If introduced, the bill would halt the deportation. If it passes, he would receive a green card. But private bills rarely pass, according to Feinstein’s office.



On Thursday, Arthur visited the local office of U.S. Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, Calif. The staff listened to his story and planned to help Feinstein’s office draft a private bill, Arthur said.

The congressman has sent a letter to Feinstein supporting her legislation on behalf of Arthur, Radanovich spokesman Spencer Pederson said Friday. The letter notes that such a bill was unlikely to pass in the House, but that previous legislation of this nature has been successful in the Senate.


On Monday, Radanovich plans to meet with the Armenian ambassador to the United States to ask that, if deportation can’t be prevented, Arthur be allowed to apply for a student visa to return to the United States, Pederson said.


Ara Jabagchourian, an attorney in San Francisco who specializes in civil litigation and antitrust, offered his services to Arthur and his family for free.

Jabagchourian, a graduate of California State University at Fresno, said Friday that he plans to call Feinstein and Radanovich, as well as Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno. He said he also will seek a U.S. Supreme Court writ to stop deportation.

“My goal is to keep the entire family here,” Jabagchourian said.

Arthur said he’s still surprised by the overwhelming response he’s received from the public and the media.

“The help is much appreciated,” he said.

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(Fresno Bee staff writer Charles McCarthy contributed to this report.)

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(c) 2008, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).

Visit The Fresno Bee online at http://www.fresnobee.com/

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

AP-NY-06-07-08 1606EDT