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from Immigration News Briefs
Vol. 9, No. 27 – July 30, 2006
On July 27, US District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. of Los
Angeles ordered the government to free Southern California Muslim
community leader Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan, a Palestinian who has spent
two years detained on an immigration violation. Department of
Justice lawyers responded to the judge’s order by filing a last-
minute motion on July 28, seeking an emergency stay and claiming
that Hamdan is a danger to the public and that he might flee
while his deportation case is pending in the US 9th Circuit Court
of Appeals. Hatter denied the request the same day, but it was
unclear when Hamdan would actually be released from the Terminal
Island detention center where he has been held since his arrest
on July 28, 2004.
His attorney, Ranjana Natarajan of the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU), said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
officials in Los Angeles were supposed to draw up conditions of a
supervised release. “The judge clearly said the government has no
business detaining him,” said Natarajan. Hamdan’s daughter, Yaman
Hamdan, said her family was afraid that the government could
still find a way to keep her father locked up.
The government had never charged Hamdan with a crime, but alleged
in immigration proceedings that he was linked to terrorism
because of his former job as a fundraiser for the Holy Land
Foundation, a Dallas, Texas-based charity which allegedly
channeled funds to the Palestinian armed group Hamas [see INB
12/18/04, 2/12/05, 3/25/06, 6/18/06]. [Los Angeles Times 7/29/06]
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