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'An embarrassment to the rule of law'

A Times Editorial
Published November 14, 2007

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For 20 years, Palestinians Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh were the targets of a baseless deportation case until the Bush administration announced recently that it was finally dropping the matter. Ever since Ronald Reagan's presidency, these permanent legal residents have been living under a cloud as the government first tried to oust them for alledgedly having Communist ties and then for providing material support for terrorism. As it turned out, the only thing these men were guilty of was expressing unpopular views against Israel, and for that our government put them through an unconscionable ordeal.

Hamide and Shehadeh, along with six others, all residents of Southern California, were arrested in 1987 and accused of supporting the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They came to be known as the "L.A. 8" as they fought their deportation. Charges were eventually dropped against all but Hamide and Shehadeh.

While the men did distribute the PFLP's magazine and raise money for a charitable arm of the group, they always denied that they were members. They were vocal antagonists toward Israel and its occupation and participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Our government never offered evidence that these men were dangerous. It was a classic case of guilt by association.

The initial charges against them stemmed from a McCarthy-era law, since repealed, that allowed for the deportation of anyone promoting world communism. When that effort failed, our government tried other approaches, amending the charges six times. It even tried to deport them under statutes that did not exist when the men were originally arrested, accusing them of providing material support for terrorism under a statute passed in 1996.

Earlier this year, immigration judge Bruce Einhorn terminated the deportation proceedings against the men after the government refused to comply with an order to turn over evidence favorable to Hamide and Shehadeh. The judge said the 20-year odyssey these men had been put through was "an embarrassment to the rule of law."

Now, after one trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, four trips to a federal appellate court and numerous immigration hearings, the government has finally agreed to settle the case, allowing both men to apply for U.S. citizenship in three years. This is not supposed to happen in America.

[Last modified November 13, 2007, 22:09:01]

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