After rally, teacher granted reprieve

Federal officials granted a beloved Fenway High School teacher a reprieve from deportation to his Ivory Coast homeland yesterday afternoon, shortly after hundreds of supporters rallied downtown.

Obain Attouoman now has until March 4 to try to find another country that will accept him so that he does not have to return to his native country, where he says he would be in danger because of his political affiliations when he lived there in the early 1990s.

"I will go to school tomorrow and make sure I will really thank the kids," said the 43-year-old special education math teacher. "That's the second time they've saved my life, so I really owe them a lot."

Last March, Attouoman was released from Suffolk County Jail -- where he had been held for three months on a deportation warrant -- one day after a similar rally drew hundreds of supporters. Attouoman and his supporters are requesting that if he cannot stay in the country permanently, he at least be allowed to stay until the end of the school year.

Attouoman's fight to stay in the country began after he missed an immigration hearing in 2001 because, he said, he misread the handwritten date on the letter. A judge ordered him deported, and he lost two appeals.

An estimated 300 students and teachers marched in a circle in front of the John F. Kennedy Federal Building yesterday and chanted, "Let him stay! Keep Obain!"

City Councilors Maura Hennigan and Chuck Turner spoke briefly at the rally. Afterward, both accompanied six students into the building to request a meeting with Bruce E. Chadbourne, New England field office director for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Chadbourne met with them for about an hour, according to Hennigan, but told them the case did not meet the extraordinary or compelling circumstances to justify a change.

It was unclear last night whether that meeting played any role in the decision to grant a reprieve. A spokeswoman for Chadbourne said she could not comment on details of the case.

When word of tomorrow's deportation date spread around the school earlier this week, students and teachers decided to rally in his defense.

Fenway junior Brian Rose said he has known Attouoman, whom students call Obain, for about eight years. Rose, who wants to be a sportswriter one day, said Attouoman taught him to write.

"He's just far above average" compared to other teachers, Rose said. "He's just a genuinely nice person who lives to serve his students."

Like several other supporters at the rally yesterday, Rose said he worries about Attouoman's safety should he be sent back to his unstable country.

"I can't bear the thought of him being harmed," he said.

Known for his three-piece suits and caring demeanor, Attouoman moved to the United States in 1992 on an exchange visitor visa. He had been teaching in Ivory Coast but was jailed twice in 1990 for involvement in the Ivorian People's Front, an insurgent political party.

He began teaching at the Mary Lyon School in 1994, the same year he sought political asylum, and moved to Fenway High School around 2000.

Federal authorities informed him two weeks ago that tomorrow was the date he would be deported. If he ends up having to leave, he said Canada would be his preferred destination.

"We hope that we can still prevail upon the government that he can stay," said his lawyer, Susan Cohen, who has been representing Attouoman pro bono since he was arrested. "They could say yes, they've done it for other people. I think there's no one more deserving than Obain."

Mayor Thomas M. Menino argues that Attouoman should at least be allowed to stay until the end of the school year so that there is no disruption for his students.

"It just frustrates me. There is a lot of support out there for this guy, and why is bureaucracy stepping up once again?" Menino asked. "Government should not work like that. They should be able to understand the benefits to the kids. Why deport Obain? He's a truly special case, and bureaucracy should be able to take care of the special cases."

Staff writer Yvonne Abraham contributed to this report.Scott Goldstein can be reached at sgoldstein@globe.com.