[Marxism] After 20 years, LA 8 Finally win

[Walter Lippmann]

Center for Constitutional Rights
American Civil Liberties Union
National Lawyers Guild

EMBARGOED UNTIL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2007 AT 9 A.M. EDT -

http://www.walterlippmann.com/la-8-release.pdf

CHARGES DROPPED IN 20-YEAR OLD DEPORTATION CASE
AGAINST PALESTINIAN ACTIVISTS
Long court battle ends with victory for immigrants

LOS ANGELES - The 20-year effort to deport two men over their alleged
political support of Palestinian self-determination officially came
to an end today when the nation's highest administrative body
overseeing immigration cases dismissed all charges against Khader
Hamide and Michel Shehadeh, members of a group of Palestinian student
activists arrested in January 1987, who became known as the LA8. The
action by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) closes one of the
nation's longest-running and most controversial deportation cases,
one that tested whether immigrants have the same First Amendment
rights as citizens.

Hamide and Shehadeh expressed both relief and happiness that the case
is finally over but also anger over what they believed to be a
politically motivated, baseless prosecution. "My family and I feel a
tremendous amount of relief today," said Hamide. "After 20 years, the
nightmare is finally over. I feel vindicated at long last. This is a
victory not only for us, but for the First Amendment of the
Constitution and for the rights of all immigrants."

Shehadeh agreed.

"I am extremely happy but do have mixed emotions," Shehadeh added.
"The government was wrong for twenty one years. They robbed us, and
our families, of the best and most productive years of our lives. We
are now free to continue living our lives, acting on our beliefs;
raising our families, supporting our communities, loving our country,
defending justice and the Constitution, and prospering as good
citizens." The case against the pair began in January, 1987, when the
government arrested them and six others, who collectively came to be
known as the LA 8, placed them in maximum security prison, and
accused them of having ties to a faction of the Palestine Liberation
Organization. The government alleged that Hamide and Shehadeh
distributed newspapers, held demonstrations and organized
humanitarian aid fundraisers for Palestinians, and that because these
actions supported the PLO faction, they should be deported. The men
were initially charged with being associated with a Communist
organization, but when a court declared those charges
unconstitutional, the government filed new charges of material
support for a terrorist group. The case went before the US Court of
Appeals four times, the Supreme Court once, and the Board of
Immigration Appeals multiple times.

The BIA dismissed the case at the request of the government, which
agreed in a settlement to drop all charges and not to seek removal of
either of the men in the future based on any of the political
activities or associations at issue in the case. Hamide and Shehadeh
agreed not to apply for citizenship for three years, and to have
several judicial orders in the case vacated as moot.

Attorneys for the two hailed the government's decision to drop the
case as a victory the First Amendment rights of all immigrants and a
vindication of their clients' actions. "This is a monumental victory
for all immigrants who want to be able to express their political
views and support the lawful activities of organizations in their
home countries fighting for social or political change," said Marc
Van Der Hout, of the National Lawyers Guild. "Hamide and Shehadeh did
nothing more than advocate for Palestinians' right to a homeland and
support charitable causes and other legal activities in the Occupied
Territories. That should never have been cause for deportation
charges in the first place. The government's attempt to deport them
all these years marks another shameful period in our government's
history of targeting certain groups of immigrants for their political
beliefs and activities."

"We are overjoyed for our clients, who have spent twenty years
fighting for the right to stay in this country and speak and
associate freely," said David Cole, a professor at Georgetown
University Law School and volunteer attorney for the Center for
Constitutional rights. "And we commend the administration for
recognizing that federal anti-terrorism resources can be far better
spent on other endeavors."

The tipping point came in January 2007, when Immigration Judge Bruce
J. Einhorn dismissed the case finding that the government's refusal
to turn over evidence favorable to the men violated the pair's right
to due process. The government's refusal to comply with his
disclosure order, Einhorn wrote, is "a festering wound on the body of
respondents and an embarrassment to the rule of law."

The case originally involved seven Palestinians and a Kenyan, the
wife of Khader Hamide. Late last year, Aiad Barakat, one of the
eight, was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in Los Angeles after federal
judge Stephen Wilson rejected the government's contentions that he
should be denied citizenship for his political associations. All of
the others have either been granted permanent residency or are on
track to becoming permanent residents.

"We are gratified that the government has decided to terminate this
case and to spend its resources on genuine threats to our national
security," said Ahilan T. Arulanantham, staff attorney with the ACLU
of Southern California. "Hamide and Shehadeh are law-abiding
immigrants who have lived here for more than a quarter century each
and done nothing wrong. We are glad that they will be able to live
out the rest of their lives in peace in the country they have called
home."

Van Der Hout and Cole have been representing the immigrants since the
case began in 1987 along with Leonard Weinglass of Chicago Seven fame
and investigator Phyllis Bennis of the National Lawyers' Guild. ###