Damra Departs, Sooner Than Later It Would Appear?

By Bill West

The Government�s case against Fawaz Damra has been long and circuitous. Damra is/was the Imam of the reputed largest mosque in Ohio near Cleveland. He was also convicted in June 2004 of lying on his US naturalization documents about his association with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), other radical Islamists and his support for the persecution of Jews.

The Government�s criminal prosecution of Damra was, from a distant observation, a simple immigration case. In reality, the case involved significant and complex issues and evidence dating back nearly two decades with linkage to the first World Trade Center attack, an Islamic �refugee� center in Brooklyn that was a precursor to an al-Qaeda recruiting operation and direct connections to the accused PIJ cell operating in Tampa, Florida that is still facing potential prosecution after a hung jury in Federal court there.

Damra lost his criminal case appeal and, while only sentenced to two months incarceration and four months home detention for his felony fraud crime, as significantly, he was statutorily stripped of his US citizenship. This aspect of the prosecution was highly important, as it opened the door for further legal action against Damra in immigration removal proceedings once the criminal case appeal action was finalized.

That removal (deportation) prosecution was recently initiated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Detroit, the Field Office responsible for the Ohio area. Damra was arrested, charged and detained in removal proceedings. The media reported this action, and has followed the progress of the deportation case. Today, the AP reported that a deal has been reached between Damra and the Government that will result in his removal to one of four Mid-East countries or the Palestinian Authority territories. Those specific physical removal details are yet to be worked out; however, as noted in the AP report, the legal action appears to have been finalized.

There was only one viable removal legal angle of attack against Damra for the Government, and that was to charge him as an alien having been involved with terrorist support activities. While the specifics of his removal deal have not been made public, such arrangements involve the Respondent alien agreeing to what is known as a Stipulated Order of Removal�essentially taking a guilty plea to a deportation charge and having the plea accepted by an Immigration Judge. In Damra�s case, this removal order will necessarily have to be one involving terrorism support.

The point here is this...apart from the criminal fraud conviction that specifically had direct underlying factors involving terrorism support, according to the information reported and available, Damra appears to now have also admitted in Immigration Court to be removable from the United States based upon his having been involved in terrorism support activities. Assuming that is the case, this will be a notable counter-terrorism win for the Feds, particularly when Fawaz Damra is finally (and hopefully soon) escorted off a US Government aircraft in whatever foreign land he is sent.

The Damra case demonstrates how a determined and professional pursuit by Federal agents and prosecutors of even long-time and entrenched purveyors of terrorism evil, even those who manage to con their way into our communities as something they are not, as Damra so successfully did, can result not only in ultimate justice but in making those communities safer. Fine Federal prosecutors like Cherie Krigsman, who took the lead in the Damra criminal case and who was most responsible for getting the case indicted before the statute of limitations expired. We all owe her and her team, as well as the INS/ICE and FBI agents who worked the investigation for many years, part as an offshoot of the Tampa PIJ case, many thanks.

Damra, among other things related to terror support, raised money on behalf of PIJ killers. America will be better off with Damra in another country and never legally able to return here. Let�s wish him a speedy departure.

TrackBack