A Terrorism Related Deportation Case Can Be The Victim Of Success

By Bill West

When is a successful deportation case not a successful deportation case? When the Government cannot actually deport the deportee, even after legally procuring a final removal order against the alien Respondent. This becomes particularly frustrating and troublesome when the alien is linked to terrorism or terrorist support activities.

Former Cleveland Imam Fawaz Damra is the latest example of this dilemma, something I have written about previously in the CT Blog. Damra, a former naturalized US citizen, was convicted in Federal Court in 2004 of having lied in that naturalization process by concealing his links to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror-connected associates. It now appears the Feds, specifically the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention and Removal Division, is having trouble finding a country that is willing to accept Damra, who because he had his US citizenship revoked, is now a stateless Palestinian. Damra was rightfully placed under removal (deportation) proceedings after his conviction became final and he lost his appeal. Damra gave up in those deportation proceedings and admitted his deportability and accepted a final removal order. Another victory for the Government.

The problem, of course, is physically removing someone like Damra. He is not a citizen of any country. He is a stateless Palestinian. Additionally, he is now a convicted felon who has been linked to terror support activities. The US Government righteously and successfully pursued the case against Damra, but now is faced with the substantial problem of how and to where to remove him. The Feds faced a similar situation with Sameeh Hammoudeh, the former defendant in the Tampa PIJ case who was acquitted of those charges but convicted earlier of immigration and tax felonies and ordered deported as a result of that case. Hammoudeh was just recently removed to the Palestinian territories, but not after a long and difficult effort by the US government.

With the current breakout of near open warfare in the Mid-East, the likelihood of deporting Palestinians back to the Territories anytime soon will be next to nil. These kind of cases require the appropriate branches of the Government to become engaged at the earliest stages, perhaps even before the issuance of a final removal order assuming one is anticipated at the end of a case. In the past, movement by the Government may have been something less than swift and enthusiastic in such cases. The State Department must also play a key role. Little known to the public, legally the US can deny visas to any country/entity that refuses to take back its own deportee citizens. In more normal times, such pressure could perhaps be brought upon the Palestinian Authority when they are reluctant to receive their own back into the Territories, as they have been in the past.

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