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Ninth Circuit Decides That Ins Lacks Authority To Indefinitely Detain Criminal Aliens Whose Home Countries Refuse Repatriation

A men in suit writing on a book - Serving Immigrants

By: Serving Immigrants

The following case addresses the problem of criminal aliens (including “permanent residents” of the U.S.) who have been detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) but cannot be repatriated, thus resulting in their perpetual detention. Petitioner Kim Ho Ma came from his native Cambodia to the U.S. as a refugee at the age of two. He became a permanent resident (that is, he received a “green card”) at age six. Unfortunately, he had bad company, got involved in a gang shooting, and was convicted of manslaughter at age 17. After completing his prison sentence, the INS ordered him removed (previously called “deported”) from the U.S. and took him into custody. Cambodia does not have a repatriation agreement with the U.S. and refused to take him back. Ma filed a petition for habeas corpus. More than 100 similarly situated petitioners filed in the same court. Similar cases have arisen in Nevada and other California districts. The district court held that Ma’s continued detention violates his…Read More

After Hostage Takers Who Abducted U.S. Citizen In The Republic Of Trinidad And Tobago Where Extradited To U.S., District Of Columbia Circuit Ponders Whether Hostage Taking Act Applies In Cases Where The Alleged Victim Obtained U.S. Citizenship By Fraud

By: Serving Immigrants

Defendants Wayne Pierre, Ricardo De Four, Zion Clarke, Kevon Demerieux, Kevin Nixon, Christopher Sealey, and Anderson Straker, nationals of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, throughout the years abducted wealthy individuals, held them captive, and extorted ransoms from their family and friends. On April 6, 2005, they abducted a Trinidad-native and a United States citizen, Balram Maharaj, who visited his children in Trinidad. The defendants delivered Maharaj to an isolated camp deep within the forest where they tied him to a post and gave him little food and water. Maharaj suffered from severe diabetes, hypertension and tuberculosis. The defendants ignored his pleas for medication and used his worsening health as leverage to demand three million Trinidadian dollars from his family. After six days in captivity, missing the medication, Maharaj slipped into a diabetic coma and died. Defendants dismembered his body, packed the remains in Styrofoam containers and buried them in the woods. In late 2005, assisted by FBI, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service uncovered…Read More

Broward Transitional Center: Immigrants With No Criminal History Get Lengthy Stays At Little-known Jail