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Deport Official Feels the Heat on "Democracy
Now!"
[Commentary and analysis by Committee to Free Farouk Abdel-Muhti
on transcript below]
In his second appearance on Pacifica Radio's popular national
program "Democracy Now!" in three weeks, on Sept. 12 top US
deportation official David Venturella again refused to give
straight answers about the case of New York-based Palestinian
activist Farouk Abdel-Muhti, detained by the government without
criminal charges since April 2002.
Venturella, who is deputy director for detention and removal
operations at the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(BICE), became tongue-tied when the program's co-host, NY Daily
News columnist Juan Gonzalez, asked him: "How do you deport a
stateless person?" Born on the West Bank in 1947, Abdel-Muhti has
never received citizenship from any country.
The BICE claims it is holding Abdel-Muhti pending his
deportation, but his supporters say the authorities have been
unable to find a country that will give him travel papers. The
activist is suing the US government for holding him in violation
of the Supreme Court's June 2001 Zadvydas ruling that detainees
who cannot be deported within six months should be released. He
has been held for nearly a year and a half.
"Democracy Now!" host Amy Goodman had pressed Venturella on
Abdel-Muhti's case during a earlier appearance on Aug. 27. "I'm
not familiar with all aspects of that particular case,"
Venturella answered. Confronted again on the subject on Sept. 12,
Venturella tried to blur the distinction between criminal charges
and immigration "charges"--which are civil and do not carry
prison terms. Finally, he fell back on saying: "I don't know Mr.,
uh, Muhti's case."
The case has been discussed by the New York Times, NPR and many
other media outlets. Dozens of activists have sent Venturella
letters demanding Abdel-Muhti's release, and almost 1,500 people
have signed a petition faxed to Venturella's office asking for
him to free the Palestinian.
Earlier in the program, Venturella faced tough questions from
Judith Greene, a fellow at the Open Society Institute, and Aarti
Shahani of Families for Freedom, an organization of relatives of
detained and deported immigrants. Shahani highlighted the case of
a young New York woman detained by the immigration authorities
for three years because of a marijuana possession charge--a
violation under New York law--when she was a teenager.
Deportation officials usually avoid the limelight, but recently
they have made at least three appearances on Pacifica radio--two
by Venturella and one by Assistant Deputy Director for
Transportation and Removals Neil Clark, who was interviewed on
Pacifica's national "Free Speech Radio News" on Aug. 19.
"They're on the defensive," says David Wilson of the Committee
for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti. "This is like [Attorney
General] John Ashcroft going on tour to defend the USA PATRIOT
Act. Two years ago the Bush people thought they could get away
with anything. Now they're facing a lot of questions, on
everything from Iraq to immigrant detention policies."
Since June immigration officials have had to contend with sharp
criticisms in three reports by the Justice Department's Office of
the Inspector General. This month the AFL-CIO is launching a
well-publicized Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, with an emphasis
on defending immigrants' civil. "People are getting better
informed, and BICE officials are feeling the heat," says Wilson.
"Now we have to step up the pressure."
Transcript of Farouk
Segment on "Democracy Now!" Sept.
12, 2003
[Transcript by Committee for Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti..]
Amy Goodman: As we wrap up our discussion--our continuing
discussions--on immigration policies in this country before and
after 9/11, we'll lastly be joined by David Wilson, a member of
the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti. We only have
a minute to discuss this. Also joined on the phone by David
Venturella, deputy director of the Bureau of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, which is the new name for the INS.
David Wilson, can you briefly raise--tell us about Farouk Abdel-
Muhti's case and ask a question of David Venturella. We rarely
have a moment when we do have activists and a member of the
administration on the line.
David Wilson: Yes, well, our basic question is: Why is Farouk
being held? Farouk has been held for almost a year and a half; I
believe this is day number 504 of his detention. He is not
charged with a crime; he is being held only in administrative
detention, supposedly while the...while the government attempts
to effect his deportation. They had a year and a half to effect
his deportation, but they have not been able to get travel papers
because he is in fact a stateless Palestinian, and we're simply
asking that he be released under, you know, supervision or
whatever during the time when they are attempting to find his
papers. And we don't know why they're doing this. Moreover,
they're keeping him in solitary confinement now, and they have
not given any explanation for this. We want to know why this is
going on, how this can go on.
Amy Goodman: Farouk Abdel-Muhti, a Palestinian man who has been
in prison for more than a year in York County Prison in
Pennsylvania, 56 years old. David Venturella, they don't know the
charges, he's just being held...
David Wilson: There aren't any charges. Excuse me. He's being
held in administrative detention. There's no claim that there are
charges. They are supposedly trying to deport him. They've had a
year and a half, and they have not gotten travel papers. Why
can't they let him go?
Amy Goodman: David Venturella?
David Venturella: Amy, you know I can't talk about individual
cases.
Amy Goodman: But then in a larger sense, how a man can be held a
year and a half with no charges, being held administratively, not
deported, not released...
David Venturella: Well...
Amy Goodman: How long can that go on?
David Venturella: When you say no charges, there are immigration
charges that make him subject to removal, and...and yes, it is an
administrative proceeding, and those are administrative charges
that have been lodged against him. So there is that process, he
does know why he's being deported, at least the charges that were
presented by the government, and, you know, he has his day in
court and certainly has access to appeal those to the federal
courts. But to say that he's sitting in detention unaware of why
he's there is incorrect...
Juan Gonzalez: How do you...
David Venturella: ...for most aliens.
Juan Gonzalez: How do you deport a stateless person?
[Pause]
David Venturella: We, uh...we have, uh... Uh, for Pales...for
Palestine, we do have agreements to return individuals to
that...territory.
David Wilson: Excuse me, excuse me...
David Venturella: Granted, it's not a country but a territory,
but we have in the past been able to return individuals who had
valid Palestinian travel documents to that territory.
Amy Goodman: David Wilson.
David Wilson: Excuse me, the Palestine National Authority says
that under...under...under Israel's rules they're not allowed to
accept Farouk, who left the...left the West Bank in 1960, so he
was never there under the Israeli occupation...
David Venturella: Again, I don't know Mr., uh, Muhti's case, so
I'm not here to discuss the details of his case. You know I can't
do that.
Amy Goodman: We're going to have to wrap it up at this point.
David Wilson, if people want to get more information, where can
they go on the web?
David Wilson: Please go to www.freefarouk.org, that's one word,
"f-r-e-e-f-a-r-o-u-k dot org."
Amy Goodman: And we want to thank you for being with us, as well
as David Venturella of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, deputy director for detention and removal
operations. Thanks for joining us again.
To listen to segment, go to:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/12/1743223
For preceding segment, with Judith Greene and Aarti Shahani:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/12/1741224
To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, call 1
(800) 881-2359.
9/20/03: Farouk Abdel-Muhti has now been held for 512 days
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Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti
PO Box 20587, Tompkins Square Station, New York, NY 10009
Phone: 212-674-9499 * Email freefarouk@yahoo.com
Website: www.freefarouk.org
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