FYI.
"Man's Release Leads to Hope in I.N.S. Cases"
By Ronald Smothers
For the full article, please see
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/nj-immig-detain.html
"When the guards came to his cell on Monday night, he held out his arms for
the manacles as usual.
"But when he heard the whispered words 'Pack up' and was led out of the
Hudson County Correctional Center to the cold, empty street, Hany Kiareldeen
realized that his long, dark odyssey through the immigration system was
over.
"Kiareldeen, 31, a Palestinian immigrant, was released Monday night after a
19-month sojourn in two New Jersey jails.
". A series of immigration court and Federal court rulings had found that
the evidence was unreliable and that its use was unconstitutional, and on
Monday the Immigration and Naturalization Service decided to stop fighting
judges' orders that Kiareldeen be freed.
"His release and the court rulings have for now given hope to supporters of
some 20 other people of Arab descent being held on secret evidence from
anonymous sources that the immigration agency will finally have to scrap a
practice it has used since the 50's.
". 'Bittersweet' was how some immigrant advocates and Arab-American groups
described the release of Kiareldeen, as they took note of the continued
detention of others.
" 'But I'm hoping this case will initiate the Government's taking a closer
look at what they use as secret evidence, and becoming a lot more judicious
in light of the loss in this case at so many administrative and judicial
levels," said Kit Gage, national coordinator of the National Coalition to
Protect Political Freedom, a coalition of advocacy groups and ethnic and
civil rights groups that came together to oppose the use of secret evidence
and other immigration law provisions.
"Aly R. Abuzaakouk, the executive director of the American Muslim Council,
while applauding the release of Kiareldeen, said he believed it would not,
on its own, force the immigration agency to rethink its use of the
classified evidence to detain, deport, exclude and deny asylum to
immigrants.
"He said the only thing that would end those practices and repair the damage
they had done to Arab-Americans and Muslims would be the passage of a bill
now before Congress that would outlaw the use of secret evidence.
" 'People in our community are aware of secret evidence, and it is having a
chilling effect on their expressing themselves on issues," Abuzaakouk said.
" 'It has created an intimidating factor, and I don't think I.N.S. will pull
back on its own.'
"Donald Mueller, a spokesman for the the immigration service, said the
agency's decision to release Kiareldeen did not mean that it would abandon
the use of secret evidence altogether.
".But Representative David E. Bonior, a Michigan Democrat and the prime
sponsor of the Secret Evidence Repeal Act of 1999, said the only effective
solution would be to eradicate the practice.
" 'Hany's Kiareldeen's release will be a hollow victory unless we
permanently discard this law,' he said today in an interview, referring to
the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act as well as the Immigration
Reform Act, both of 1996. ."
From the Associated Press, October 27, 1999:
"Freed immigrant in secret evidence case hopes to become citizen"
By Jeffrey Gold
" A struggle against government evidence he was not allowed to see cost Hany
Mahmoud Kiareldeen 19 months of liberty and possibly his marriage, but the
Palestinian immigrant says he will pursue citizenship.
"Because I am proud of America. I like America because it is a free
country," Kiareldeen said Tuesday, his first day of freedom in a case that
his advocates hailed as the third blow this year against the use of secret
evidence.
".Kiareldeen, 31, said he would probably try to force the government to
provide him copies of the secret evidence, which he and his lawyers have
never seen.
"Seven immigration judges did, however, and found it did not support the
allegations, was insufficient to warrant his detention, and did not bar him
from getting his green card.
He was freed about midnight Monday from the Hudson County Jail just after
the U.S. Justice Department announced it had dropped efforts to deport him.
"Its decision followed a bombshell ruling last week from a federal judge
here, who said such evidence was unconstitutional and ordered Kiareldeen
freed.
".Despite the secret evidence, and the INS insistence that he threatened
national security, he was never charged with a terrorist act. The FBI closed
its investigation in July.
" 'We need to be skeptical of government claims of national security,' said
David Cole, a Georgetown law professor who worked for Kiareldeen and others
jailed over secret evidence.
".Supporters of Kiareldeen and others accused on the basis of secret
evidence said they hope the government ends the practice.
" 'American Muslims feel that the secret evidence issue has targeted our
community,' said Shirin Sinnar, a spokeswoman for the American Muslim
Council . 'The government in an overzealous pursuit of national security has
sometimes trespassed on people's rights.'
"Advocates say Kiareldeen is the first of about two dozen people, nearly all
Arab or Muslim, detained by secret evidence to win release.
".A Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied
any anti-Arab bias, and said that although it was not pursuing the
Kiareldeen case, it would still use secret evidence in 'certain narrowly
drawn cases.'"
**CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND ASK THEM TO SUPPORT THE SECRET EVIDENCE
REPEAL ACT OF 1999, H.R. 2121 >>
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