American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee

Yesterday the Orange County Register urged Attorney General John Ashcroft to Drop the LA 8 case. For background on the case and ADC's action alert asking members and supporters to ask the Attorney General to drop the case see <http://www.adc.org/action/2001/27june2001.htm>.

Feedback to the OC Register can be sent to: <Commentary@ocregister.com>.

The Orange County Register Editorial Thursday, July 12, 2001

Feds should drop unjust L.A. 8 case. The Bush administration has the opportunity to put an end to a long-running and capricious Immigration and Naturalization Service case against a group of immigrants known as the L.A. Eight.

For the sake of justice, the administration simply needs to drop its case against the group - something easy to do now that a Los Angeles immigration judge ruled against the INS in late June. The government has until August 5 to decide whether to appeal.

The case sounds like something that happens in Third World police states. The case, which has been going on for 15 years and has cost the government millions of dollars, is maddeningly complex, involving various procedural and constitutional questions in immigration court and in the federal justice system.

The dispute comes down to a simple question: Should eight immigrants who are in the United States legally be deported for taking part in political activities that would unquestionably be protected if they were full-fledged U.S. citizens? The seven Palestinians and one Kenyan were activists on behalf of a Palestinian homeland. They raised money for organizations that provided humanitarian services in the Middle East, but which the INS said also were tied to military activities.

Ironically, the U.S. officially supports some of these same types of groups. And positions the L.A. Eight advocated in 1987 are now similar to positions officially advocated in recent administrations and in the U.S. Congress. Yet the INS has continued onward, squandering tax dollars and putting on hold the lives of eight law-abiding individuals and their families (including 15 children, who are all U.S. citizens).

The heart of the INS prosecution was the McCarran-Walter Act, a McCarthy-era relic designed to stop support for hostile governments, and which has since been ruled unconstitutional. The government continued to prosecute the group under the provisions of new federal legislation, in effect applying new provisions retroactively to an old case - even though Congress specifically forbade it. That's what Judge Einhorn found so offensive.

The L.A. Eight's attorney, Marc Van Der Hout of San Francisco, told us that it was a case of selective prosecution. The group was targeted for aiding organizations that advocated a position contrary to the U.S. government's but did not prosecute others, such as refugees from Cuba, who also took similar positions with regard to their homeland's government. The INS admitted that it was pursuing the case for the purposes of a legal precedent, Mr. Van Der Hout said.

The agency wanted to maintain the right to deport lawful immigrants who raised funds for legal activities abroad if the groups who received the money also were involved in military activities. But the members of the L.A. Eight have never been accused of doing anything criminal, he added. And the government has admitted that U.S. citizens could never have been prosecuted for taking part in these types of free-speech activities.

Frankly, the case sounds like something that happens in Third World police states. Mr. Shehadeh was at home with his young child, when several armed agents raided his apartment and hauled him away at gunpoint for supporting a political cause opposed by the authorities. Mr. Shehadeh and the others have spent these years fighting to stay in the United States. They've also lived productive lives and had families. The INS' success at deporting the L.A. Eight would, by the way, mean the tearing apart of several families.

Enough is enough. Drop the case.

	13 July, 2001

	Orange County Register Urges Ashcroft to Drop LA8 Case

	Yesterday the Orange County Register urged Attorney General John Ashcroft to Drop the LA 8 case. For background on the case and ADC's action alert asking members and supporters to ask the Attorney General to drop the case see <http://www.adc.org/action/2001/27june2001.htm>. Feedback to the OC Register can be sent to: <Commentary@ocregister.com>. The Orange County Register Editorial Thursday, July 12, 2001 Feds should drop unjust L.A. 8 case. The Bush administration has the opportunity to put an end to a long-running and capricious Immigration and Naturalization Service case against a group of immigrants known as the L.A. Eight. For the sake of justice, the administration simply needs to drop its case against the group - something easy to do now that a Los Angeles immigration judge ruled against the INS in late June. The government has until August 5 to decide whether to appeal. The case sounds like something that happens in Third World police states. The case, which has been going on for 15 years and has cost the government millions of dollars, is maddeningly complex, involving various procedural and constitutional questions in immigration court and in the federal justice system. The dispute comes down to a simple question: Should eight immigrants who are in the United States legally be deported for taking part in political activities that would unquestionably be protected if they were full-fledged U.S. citizens? The seven Palestinians and one Kenyan were activists on behalf of a Palestinian homeland. They raised money for organizations that provided humanitarian services in the Middle East, but which the INS said also were tied to military activities. Ironically, the U.S. officially supports some of these same types of groups. And positions the L.A. Eight advocated in 1987 are now similar to positions officially advocated in recent administrations and in the U.S. Congress. Yet the INS has continued onward, squandering tax dollars and putting on hold the lives of eight law-abiding individuals and their families (including 15 children, who are all U.S. citizens). The heart of the INS prosecution was the McCarran-Walter Act, a McCarthy-era relic designed to stop support for hostile governments, and which has since been ruled unconstitutional. The government continued to prosecute the group under the provisions of new federal legislation, in effect applying new provisions retroactively to an old case - even though Congress specifically forbade it. That's what Judge Einhorn found so offensive. The L.A. Eight's attorney, Marc Van Der Hout of San Francisco, told us that it was a case of selective prosecution. The group was targeted for aiding organizations that advocated a position contrary to the U.S. government's but did not prosecute others, such as refugees from Cuba, who also took similar positions with regard to their homeland's government. The INS admitted that it was pursuing the case for the purposes of a legal precedent, Mr. Van Der Hout said. The agency wanted to maintain the right to deport lawful immigrants who raised funds for legal activities abroad if the groups who received the money also were involved in military activities. But the members of the L.A. Eight have never been accused of doing anything criminal, he added. And the government has admitted that U.S. citizens could never have been prosecuted for taking part in these types of free-speech activities. Frankly, the case sounds like something that happens in Third World police states. Mr. Shehadeh was at home with his young child, when several armed agents raided his apartment and hauled him away at gunpoint for supporting a political cause opposed by the authorities. Mr. Shehadeh and the others have spent these years fighting to stay in the United States. They've also lived productive lives and had families. The INS' success at deporting the L.A. Eight would, by the way, mean the tearing apart of several families. Enough is enough. Drop the case.