Could happen to thy neighbour......

Wed Aug 18,10:49 PM ET

By JUAN A. LOZANO, Associated Press Writer

HOUSTON - A white Texas lawmaker and his wife are seeking to retain temporary
custody of their former maid's 20-month-old son, who is black, on grounds she
and the child's father are unfit parents.
State Rep. Talmadge Heflin and his wife, Janice, made their case Wednesday to
a family court judge, accusing Mariam Katamba and Fidel Odimara, who are
African immigrants, of not caring for their son or providing him with adequate
medical care. Heflin also told the judge he wants to help the child because of
"the terrible problem that black male children have growing into manhood without
being in prison." Katamba and Odimara say they love their child, have never
abused him and are being singled out because they are in the country illegally.
The couple's lawyer, Mathew Nwogu, said the case is about returning a child
to biological parents who are willing to make whatever sacrifices are needed to
care for him. After hearing testimony most of the day, state District Judge
Linda Motheral said she needed more information and would resume the hearing
Friday. Katamba, who knew Janice Heflin's sister, said she moved in with the
Heflins in July 2003 to work as their maid. She started working outside their
home, but said she saw her son, Fidel Odimara Jr., as often as she could. "You
pretended that you are helping me and now you are trying to take my kid away
from me," she told the Heflins during the hearing. The Heflins said they took in
the mother and child and cared for the boy when Katamba returned to work. They
said Katamba worked all week and went out on weekends, although Katamba
denies spending weekends away. The Heflins claimed Odimara hardly visited his son,
and that neither he nor Katamba provided health insurance for the infant, who
has medical problems because of a premature birth. The boy has been in the
Heflins' custody since last month under a court order. The Republican lawmaker
and his wife say they want temporary custody to ensure the infant's well being
and don't want to terminate the immigrant couple's parental rights. The
Heflins' attorney, Harry Tindall, said he believes Katamba, who is from Uganda, and
Odimara, who is from Nigeria, are in the country illegally and don't have the
means to support their son. The infant sees "us as his protectors and we are.
We want him to know his parents but we also want him to be protected," Janice
Heflin said. Odimara, who said during the hearing that firstborn children hold
a special place in Nigerian culture, told reporters, "I want my son back."



--
******************************************************************************
***************
*  Madiba K. Saidy, Ph.D

*  Research Scientist, Atomic Energy of Canada

*  Department of Energy & Natural Resources Canada

*  ====

*  Secretary/Treasurer

*  Joint Division of Surface Science

*  The Chemical Institute of Canada & The Canadian Association of Physicists

******************************************************************************
***************

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~