Hawk and All~~ What are your thoughts about thisDeportation of Somalis is illegal, judge rules
By CHRIS McGANN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
The federal government's policy of deporting people to Somalia -- a war-torn East African nation that has lacked a functioning government for more than a decade -- is illegal, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled yesterday.
Without a recognized government, a country cannot "accept" deportees, as the law requires, Pechman said.
The ruling, which stems from a case undertaken in November in Seattle on behalf of four Somali men slated for immediate deportation, blocks the deportation of more than 2,700 people nationwide.
Yesterday, Pechman expressed grave concerns about the government's lack of information about the deportees' fate once they leave the United States.
"The government appears to have no idea of what happened to persons previously deported," Pechman said. "It's as if they've fallen into a black hole. That makes the risk to petitioners extraordinarily high."
Since 1997, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has deported 196 Somali nationals, according to a document the agency filed Monday. Of those people, 49 were deported for criminal offenses and 147 were deported on visa violations or other issues related to immigration.
Greg Mack, the lawyer for the Department of Justice's Office of Immigration Litigation who traveled from Washington, D.C., to argue the government's position, said a country doesn't need a government to accept nationals the United States returns.
"Once we move an alien to the point of no return, acceptance has taken place," Mack said. "From our perspective . . . once the (airplane) door has been shut and they have crossed (the U.S.) border, the removal has taken place."
In the oral decision she issued yesterday, Pechman rejected such statements as "an incredible interpretation." She also rejected the government's argument that deporting Somalis is a necessary tool in the war on terrorism. Pechman said the government had provided no concrete evidence to support the notion that al-Qaida is active in Somalia, or that there is any connection at all between the Somalis and terrorism.
"There are concerns about Somalia," Mack said. "As to (al-Qaida's) presence in Somalia, those assessments are ongoing . . . where (Attorney General John Ashcroft) has the sense that there is a potential threat from a country, he has to have the option of removal."
Last month, Pechman issued a temporary halt to Somali deportations pending yesterday's hearing. After weighing the arguments, she made the moratorium final, largely because she said deportation to Somalia presents the likelihood of irreparable injury or death to deportees.
In her decision, she found that all Somalis in the United States who are subject to deportation represent a legitimate class of people to be protected under the ruling, provided their cases are not already in litigation.
Certifying all Somalis subject to deportation was necessary in part, Pechman said, because of the manner in which the INS detained them, she said. The INS withheld detainees' names, moved them without notice to undisclosed districts, thereby making it difficult or impossible for them to develop and maintain access to groups that provide legal assistance.
"The numbers (of detainees in each district) appear to change and individuals have been transferred out of districts where (they have cases) pending," she said. "How can they develop a relationship with counsel if they are moving? Depending on charity and pro bono organizations to work around the country is not access to the court."
After listening to Pechman's decision, Yusuf Ali Ali, Mohamed Aweys, Mohamed Hussein Hundiye and Goma Kalif Mohamud -- the four Somali men who walked into her courtroom downcast and shackled at 9:06 a.m. yesterday -- left with wide smiles and the possibility of being released from custody as early as Friday.
Pechman postponed until the end of the week her decision about whether to release the four Somalis held in Seattle to give the litigants time to file briefs on the detention issue. Also jubilant yesterday were members of the immigrants' rights group that rallied in their defense.
"We're thrilled," said Pramila Jayapal, director of the Hate Free Zone Campaign of Washington, which helped organize the pro bono Perkins Coie legal effort.
The team's lead lawyer, Tom Boeder, said his firm had taken the case because of the immediate risk to the Somalis' lives if they were deported, and because of the direction Ashcroft has taken in his efforts to root out terrorism. Boeder said he wanted to counter the rein Ashcroft had been given to "violate the law without judicial review."
"It's important that we win the war on terror," Boeder said. "But it's also important that we don't destroy the legal system in the process."
Article received on Wednesday, January 15 2003 at 03:57 EST
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