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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Judge halts deportation of 2 members of 'L.A. Eight' ("EMBARRASSMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW") Judge halts deportation of 2 members of 'L.A. Eight' ASSOCIATED PRESS 8:00 p.m. January 30, 2007 LOS ANGELES – An immigration judge ordered the federal government Tuesday to halt its 20-year effort to deport a pair of Palestinian men accused of terrorist ties. Los Angeles Immigration Judge Bruce J. Einhorn ruled the government had denied Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh, members of the so-called “L.A. Eight,” due process by keeping them in legal limbo for so many years and being unprepared to prosecute the case. In his 11-page opinion, Einhorn described the proceedings as “a festering wound on the body of respondents and an embarrassment to the rule of law.” The two, along with five other Palestinians and a Kenyan, faced deportation since 1987, when they were arrested for alleged associations with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The group, a radical offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has opposed peace negotiations between the PLO and Israel. The U.S. government considers it a terrorist organization. The eight have all denied being members, and immigrant rights groups have called the case politically motivated. Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement that “ICE finds the judge's decision troubling as a matter of fact and law, and the agency is considering it's legal options.” San Francisco attorney Marc Van Der Hout, who represents the “L.A. Eight,” said the judge's order will make it safer for immigrants to express political views. “The decision makes it clear that the government ... cannot continue to try to deport these permanent residents who did nothing but try to advocate for Palestinian right to a homeland, hardly a revolutionary belief in the 21st century,” he said. Four of the so-called “L.A. Eight,” including Hamide and Shehadeh, have legal residency, according to immigration officials. Two remain in immigration proceedings, while the status of the final two was not immediately known. In his opinion, the judge also scolded the government for failing to release evidence favorable to Hamide and Shehadeh's case after he had ordered it. “It does no public good to argue that because Hamide and Shehadeh are alleged to have engaged in terrorist activity, their status as lawful permanent residents entitles them to no legal protection from government misconduct,” Einhorn wrote. “The credibility of the rule of law is tested not by how the latter is applied to protect those we love, but to protect those we loathe.”
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