New Tanith and Ben articles on citizenship, with pictures! | Golden Skate

New Tanith and Ben articles on citizenship, with pictures!

Littlewild1

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
http://www.detnews.com/2004/wayne/0407/27/b03-223598.htm
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw101730_20040727.htm
The articles are almost exactly the same, but it's a good read. Excerpt:

The skaters have caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Taddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who has sent a letter on Belbin’s behalf to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau to help expedite her citizenship process. It is unclear at this time whether that will help.

“We will continue working with Ms. Belbin and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau to help her realize her dreams of becoming an American citizen and an Olympian,” McCotter said in a statement.


As for the pictures - Ben now sports a goatee, and Tanith has the curly hair we saw at Worlds and is letting her dark roots show through. They both look great.
 

Pau-goodle76

Rinkside
Joined
May 11, 2004
Thanks for that link Littlewild 1! I like both of their new looks, especially Benjamin's with the goatee.
 

JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
The goatee is an EXCELLENT look on Ben, and as for Tanith -- well, she'd pretty much look gorgeous with even a bright blue buzzcut.... :D
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Wow, they both look great. I think Tanith looks so natural and very beautiful that way. I hope they can compete at the Olympics. What a shame it would be if they were physically able but were ineligible because of something like this. They certainly look like they will be definite contenders for an Olympic medal...I hope they get the chance to prove themselves. At any rate, I like that they are being so positive about the situation and that they feel content to wait until 2010. However, I know it would have to hurt like hell if they were to win the 2006 U.S. title and not be able to go to Italy!
 
S

SkateFan4Life

Guest
BronzeisGolden said:
I hope they get the chance to prove themselves. At any rate, I like that they are being so positive about the situation and that they feel content to wait until 2010. However, I know it would have to hurt like hell if they were to win the 2006 U.S. title and not be able to go to Italy!

Duh. I honestly do not understand what the hold-up is here for Tanith to get her United States citizenship. Why isn't the US Olympic Committee and/or the US Figure Skating Association hounding the Naturalization/Immigration Office, or whoever it is that grants naturalized US citizenship, so see that this is taken care of immediately? Come on, already! Duh.

If Tanith doesn't get her citizenship, I am going to be very disappointed. :(

We can land men on the moon but we can't do something as routine as this???
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
My impression is that the National Immigration thingy is a tough nut to crack. Especially after the 9-11 attacks and the subsequent heightening of scrutiny of foreign citizens. I don't think they care much about the wishes of the USFSA.

BTW, Representative McCotter (Thaddeus McCotter -- I'm pretty sure his name is spelled wrong in this article) serves a district that borders on the Detroit suburb (Dearborn, MI) that has the greatest concentration of residents from the Arab world of any city in the U.S. McCotter very likely has quite a bit of experience in dealing with immigration matters on behalf of his constituency.

I tried to email him to thank him for taking on this matter, but his web site only accepts email from people living in his district. Oh, well. His district includes the town (Canton) where the Arctic Edge arena is located (also Novi, MI, where Shep Goldberg and COI have offices, LOL). This is where Tanith and Ben moved when their coach, Igor Shpilband, left the Detroit FSC to become the head guy in dance there last year.

I don't know whether even a U.S. Representative -- or the USOC -- has any influence with Immigration. These are the guys that, in the name of homeland security, keep people in jail for months without charging them with anything and without according them legal representation or contact with the outside.

I think Sasha Cohen should get on her cell phone with her pal Mr. Bush and get something going here.:)

Mathman
 
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RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
No offense to Tanith, and I do hope she gets her citizenship soon. However, there are many others ahead of her who don't have such high profiles but who are anxious to receive THEIR citizenship. Each of those people has his or her own story, too, which is just as important--at least as far as they are concerned.
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
That is a statement that is very true, RealtorGal. I was thinking about this earlier and I thought also: "What about all of the other people ahead of her?". I'd love for her to get her citizenship and a chance at the Olympics...but come on, she does live a pretty good life obviously and isn't missing out on anything. The same can't be said for so many other immigrants that desparately need their citizenship in order to secure better job opportunities, housing, etc. I think that giving someone a chance to feed their family and support them in a much better manner should take precedence over something like this. But then I swing back...and feel so bad for Tanith still...lol. Who knows...if it works out and she does get her citizenship that will be a great thing...but I will wonder too who got passed just because they were simply ordinary.
 

BravesSkateFan

Medalist
Joined
Aug 7, 2003
While it would be nice if they could compete in the '06 Olympics, I don't think that Tanith (or any other person) should get special privileges becasue she is an elite athlete. She should have to wait the alloted time period just like everyon else. The delay was put in place to protect the people in this country, and even though know that Tanith isn't here as a terrorist, we can't start bending the rules. Just my 2 cents
 

Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
I know Tanith is a boon to the US figure skating team, but it would have been nice to keep her here in Canada; we seem to be low right now on male partners in ice dance. Too bad. Oh well, best of luck to both of them.
 

berthes ghost

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Personally, I think that country switching is the biggest crock of s*#t. If the Duchesneays just had to leave Canada, why did they place so far above the other Canadians from 89 to 92? It's never made much sense to me.
 

JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
berthes ghost said:
Personally, I think that country switching is the biggest crock of s*#t. If the Duchesneays just had to leave Canada, why did they place so far above the other Canadians from 89 to 92? It's never made much sense to me.


First of all, it had to do with politics in Canadian dance judging; they never got the support there that they deserved. Secondly, skating for France in those days was not exactly detrimental; IMO the French were great at doing some serious deal-making. Anyone besides me find it odd that in order for the Duchesnays to continue skating for France, they had to be 8th at Euros and 12th at Worlds in 86 (87?) and THOSE ARE EXACTLY THE PLACES THEY ENDED UP IN?? What a coincidence! In retrospect, I didn't trust the French federation any further than I could throw them. Personally, I thought the Duchesnays were terrific, but I'm sure they had a little help to get where they did, whether they knew about it or not. A lot of terrific dance couples don't get that help.
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
People waiting to receive US citizenship are NOT in a queue. Tanith's citizenship being accelerated will not cause anyone else's citizenship to be delayed.

Tanith filed paperwork for her green card back in 2000, and under normal circumstances, she would have gotten the card that same year, and after a 5-year wait, she would have become a citizen in 2005, well before Torino. But INS lost some of her paperwork, which delayed issuance of the green card. Then 9/11 stalled the process for everyone. Tanith didn't get her green card until 2002.

Under the circumstances, I see nothing wrong with accelerating the process in her case. Tanith and her family have lived in the US since 1998, and by 2006 she will have lived in the US for 8 years.
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
berthes ghost said:
Personally, I think that country switching is the biggest crock of s*#t. If the Duchesneays just had to leave Canada, why did they place so far above the other Canadians from 89 to 92? It's never made much sense to me.
Tanith and Ben didn't just switch countries. One of them had to switch in order for them to skate together. I don't think that doing everything to skate with a compatible partner is a "crock of s*#t".

As to Tanith's citizenship -- I, too, agree that the fact that she has filed for Green Gard more than 5 years prior to 2006 makes a difference. Technically, INS would not be breaking their rules, but only correcting a prior mistake.
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
citizenship

Perhaps instead of lobbying immigration, the Olympic Committee ought to be lobbied to change the rule to match Worlds - that only one member of the team needs to be a citizen.

There is a precedent, BTW. In equestrian sports, no one cares one whit about the citizenship of one member of the partnership. Neigh!!!

Linny
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
RealtorGal said:
No offense to Tanith, and I do hope she gets her citizenship soon. However, there are many others ahead of her who don't have such high profiles but who are anxious to receive THEIR citizenship. Each of those people has his or her own story, too, which is just as important--at least as far as they are concerned.

That could be another reason why Tanith isn't bugging them to hurry it up. She understands that the world does not revolve around her or her skating and that there'll always be 2010, while disappointing I'm glad they're not making too big a deal about this whole thing.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think so, too, Toni.

:laugh: , Linny. BTW, there are a lot of Russians skating for various countries. Is Anassina a French citizan? Is Peter Tschernyshev a U.S. citizen? Is Alisa Drei a citizen of Finland?

There are also Americans skating for countries that their ancestors came from generations ago, like Sydney Vogel.

According the the Law of Return, could Sasha Cohen skate for Israel?

MM
 
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Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Peter is US citizen; Marina is a citizen of France (don't know about Alisa). I recall a few years back Peter getting a lot of flack because in the post-competition interview, when asked how he felt about become a citizen, he answered that it was great because he could now skate in the Olympics; apparently, he was supposed to talk instead about his American patriotism.

The current rules only say that switching countries forces skater to skip one season. This rule was pushed through by Russia when all their skaters started defecting to other federations.

BTW, all countries have very different approaches to citizenship. US, luckily, has a very methodical approach (as opposed to the US approach to granting permanent residency, a pre-requisite for citizenship). France, for example, it totally different. They gave Marina citizenship when they felt like it, yet people can be born and live their whole lives there without ever having the right to vote.
 

Linny

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 13, 2003
Law of Return?

Methinks someone misunderstood totally. I never implied that people should return to countries of origin or whatever it was that was read in there.

I only suggested that the Olympic committee ought to stop requiring both members of a team to be citizens of the country they wish to represent at the Olympics. It should be enough that Ben is a USA citizen, it should have been enough that Naomi was a USA citizen. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples.

Personally, I'd drop the whole countries thing altogether... but fans seem to like the "team" concept that comes with the Olympics, so I guess my wish for a sporting event where the best of the best from all over the world get together and wow the rest of us in peace and harmony... guess it isn't going to come true.

If, at least, they'd drop the "both" issue for skating partnerships, it would be a step in the right direction. Imagine.

Linny
 
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