[Marxism] U.S. loses 20-year attempt to deport 2 immigrants

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's so rare these days that Washington is handed so
clear a setback in its efforts to deny legal rights to 
immigrants, that this decision is all the sweeter!
==================================

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-laeight31jan31,0,1172724.story?coll=la-home-local

U.S. loses 20-year attempt to deport 2 immigrants
An immigration judge criticizes federal conduct 
in the case against the pair, both legal residents, 
accused of terrorist ties.
By Henry Weinstein
Times Staff Writer

January 31, 2007


A federal immigration judge has dismissed the government's attempt to
deport two men who were arrested along with six other U.S. residents
because of their alleged ties to Palestinian terrorists and who
fought relentless efforts to force them to leave the country for 20
years.

Judge Bruce E. Einhorn of Los Angeles, in a ruling made public
Tuesday, said the government had violated the constitutional rights
of Khader M. Hamide and Michel I. Shehadeh by its "gross failure" to
comply with his instructions to produce "potentially exculpatory and
other relevant information."

In a scathing decision, Einhorn said the government's conduct in the
case was "an embarrassment to the rule of law" that left "a festering
wound on" Hamide and Shehadeh, who have been in legal and personal
limbo for two decades.

The two men, both longtime legal residents of the United States, are
part of a group that was dubbed "the L.A. 8" after the government
launched attempts to deport them in January 1987. All eight denied
that they were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, or PFLP, a radical offshoot of the Palestine Liberation
Organization that has taken credit for airline hijackings and car
bombings in the Middle East.

Hamide and Shehadeh, as well as the others, steadfastly maintained
that they were being persecuted even though their political
activities â distributing newspapers, participating in
demonstrations, assisting Palestinians with human rights and medical
needs, raising money for hospitals, youth clubs and day-care centers
â were lawful.

Einhorn's ruling "is a great decision that really vindicates what we
have said all along," a jubilant Hamide said in an interview Tuesday.
"The government spent millions of dollars and thousands of hours
trying to deport us, and the only things they ever accused us of were
constitutionally protected activity.

"The government should drop this case and leave us alone to lead
normal lives â if there is such a thing after a case like this â and
pursue real terrorists," said Hamide, 52, who lives in Chino Hills
and is in the coffee distribution business.

Shehadeh, 50, said he was "feeling very, very good about the
decision. This might be the moment we have been waiting for, for the
last 20 years, a moment of relief and vindication."

But Shehadeh, who lives in Oregon, where one of his sons is in
college, quickly added, "Another side of me is still cautious. After
20 years it becomes ingrained in youâ. This might not be the end of
it."

And indeed it might not be. The government has not said whether it
will appeal the decision. A Justice Department spokesman said the
agency had no comment. The Department of Homeland Security declined
to comment.

Prosecutors never filed criminal charges against any of the eight.
Late last year, Aiad Barakat, another member of the L.A. 8, was sworn
in as a U.S. citizen in Los Angeles. Three other members of the L.A.
8 have obtained permanent residency. One member of the group is still
seeking that status, and the other has returned to the West Bank city
of Bethlehem.

Over two decades, the immigrants won a number of key decisions,
including one from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1998 that
held that the Constitution does not permit "guilt by association."
That court ruled that the deportation of Hamide and Shehadeh could
not go forward unless the government showed that the men intended to
support the "illegal group goals of the PFLP."

But government lawyers twice persuaded Congress to change laws and
make them retroactive in an effort to be able to deport the two men,
said San Francisco attorney Marc Van Der Hout of the National Lawyers
Guild, who has represented them for 20 years.

The two sides stipulated to Einhorn that the PFLP "engaged in
terrorist activities" from 1984 to 1986, but also provided day care,
healthcare and Social Security services as well as cultural events.

This week's ruling was the second time Einhorn threw out the case.
The judge said that the government missed the deadline for turning
over exculpatory information by nine months and that even then its
response was inadequate.

The judge said the government's conduct was particularly troubling
given how long the case had taken and the nature of the charges.

"A reasonable argument could be made that if Hamide and Shehadeh have
engaged in terrorist activity, particularly in the context of today's
world, then the government would be prepared to move heaven and Earth
â not to mention some mounds of paper â to complete the trial and
deportation" of the duo.

In particular, Einhorn blasted John H. Clarkson III, assistant
general counsel of the National Security Branch of the FBI, for
responses to the court that were a "misuse of black-letter law," a
reference to legal principles that are not disputable.

Einhorn said the government had broad but not unlimited powers in
immigration matters.

"While this court may be one of limited jurisdiction, it is not an
impotent institution," Einhorn wrote.

If there were no consequences for the government's failure to
discharge its court-ordered responsibilities, it would mean that an
immigration judge would be "reduced to the status of Blanche Dubois,
who must rely on the kindness of strangers," he wrote, referring to
the character in Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire."

"Judge Einhorn's decision is important not only for Hamide and
Shehadeh, but for all immigrants in this country who want to be able
to express their political views," Van Der Hout said.

"The decision makes clear that the government cannot blatantly refuse
to comply with an immigration judge's orders and that the government
cannot continue to try to deport these permanent residents who did
nothing but try to advocate for Palestinians' right to a homeland â
hardly a revolutionary belief in the 21st century."

Added Georgetown University law professor David Cole, who has been
co-lead counsel for the L.A. 8, on behalf of the Center for
Constitutional Rights, since the case began: "For 20 years the
government has been attempting to deport these individuals for
political activities that would clearly be protected if they were
U.S. citizens. We hope that the government will now move on and focus
its efforts on real terrorists and not political activists."

*

henry.weinstein@xxxxxxxxxxx




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