Fought deportations for 15 years
LA 8 get reprieve in court
By Preston
Wood
Los Angeles
After 15 years of U.S. government efforts to deport them,
the LA 8 have won a major victory in their struggle for
justice.
In a ruling released on June 28, Judge Bruce J. Einhorn held
that if the Justice Department wishes to continue to try to
deport two of the LA 8--Michel Shehadeh and Khader Hamide--it
must do so using the charges for which they were arrested in
1987, under the now-defunct McCarren-Walter Act.
Shehadeh, Hamide and the other LA 8 defendants were singled
out for their political activities. They were active in
building solidarity and support for the struggle of the
Palestinian people for justice. Throughout the proceedings
against the LA 8, the seven Palestinians and one Kenyan were
never accused of any criminal act. Their only so-called "crime"
was to support the rights of the Palestinians.
The Walters-McCarren act, used during the anti-communist
McCarthy period to harass and jail political activists,
declared it a crime to "advocate world communism." The current
ruling specifies that the government, if it decides to continue
its case against the LA 8, must use these McCarren-Walter Act
charges rather than charges made later on in the case.
In earlier rulings, federal judges had in fact ruled that
the LA 8 were being targeted for their political views.
The McCarren-Walter Act charges were eventually dropped, but
false charges were then leveled against the eight defendants as
a means to continue to harass and deport them.
In 1999 the U.S. Supreme Court, in a shocking decision,
ruled that in fact immigrants living in the U.S. can be singled
out and deported for their political views. At that time,
Shehadeh, Western Regional Director for the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and Co-chair of the Los
Angeles-based Save the Iraqi Children Committee, told Workers
World, "It's McCarthyism all over again. But this time it's not
communists and other progressives, but immigrants who are the
target."
The government throughout the years has openly admitted that
if the LA 8 were U.S. citizens they would not have been
charged. The significance of the case lies in the fact that the
U.S. government is maintaining that immigrants do not have the
right to exercise free speech while living here. The government
is also trying to deny due process to any immigrant slated for
deportation and sweep away the right of any immigrant to equal
protection under the U.S. Constitution.
The new ruling is a significant victory for all immigrants
and is a setback for the government.
From his office in Orange County, Shehadeh told Workers
World, "This is a significant win in our fight against the
government's attempt to deport us based on our constitutionally
protected pro-Palestinian activities. When we win this fight,
all immigrants will win with us. Because if the government
succeeds in their precedent- setting attempt to silence
opposition to its unfair policies in the Middle East, it will
next move to silence all political dissent in America."
In spite of 15 years of harassment and mistreatment of
Shehadeh and his family by the U.S. Justice Department, he has
remained a leading activist in the struggle of the Palestinians
for justice and self-determination. He is currently a leader in
the Los Angeles Free Palestine Coalition, which has mounted
large demonstrations and grass roots organizing against the
Zionist occupation of Palestine and for justice for the
Palestinian people.
On Aug. 26 the FPC will hold a Day of Solidarity with
Palestine. For more information call (714) 636-1232 or (213)
487-2368.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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