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<h1><b>U.S. loses 20-year attempt to deport 2 immigrants<br>
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<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/scotus/la-me-laeight31jan31,1,3049428.story?coll=la-news-politics-supreme_court&ctrack=1&cset=true" eudora="autourl">
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/scotus/la-me-laeight31jan31,1,3049428.story?coll=la-news-politics-supreme_court&ctrack=1&cset=true</a>
</b></font></h1><font size=3>An immigration judge criticizes federal
conduct in the case against the pair, both legal residents, accused of
terrorist ties.<br>
By Henry Weinstein, Times Staff Writer<br>
January 31, 2007 <br>
<br>
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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Hamide and Shehadeh, as well as the others, steadfastly maintained that
they were being persecuted even though their political activities
distributing newspapers, participating in demonstrations, assisting
Palestinians with human rights and medical needs, raising money for
hospitals, youth clubs and day-care centers were lawful.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
"The government should drop this case and leave us alone to lead
normal lives if there is such a thing after a case like this and
pursue real terrorists," said Hamide, 52, who lives in Chino Hills
and is in the coffee distribution business.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
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 you…. This might not be the end of it."
<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
The judge said the government's conduct was particularly troubling given
how long the case had taken and the nature of the charges.<br><br>
"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 not to mention some mounds of paper to complete the trial and
deportation" of the duo.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
Einhorn said the government had broad but not unlimited powers in
immigration matters. <br><br>
"While this court may be one of limited jurisdiction, it is not an
impotent institution," Einhorn wrote.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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
hardly a revolutionary belief in the 21st century." <br><br>
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."<br><br>
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