Thread: AL - Feds can't deport Hueytown illegal immigrant

Posted: Apr 19, 2012 6:49 PM PDT Updated: Apr 19, 2012 7:49 PM PDT
By Christy Hutchings
WBRC


Sofyan Eldani. Source: Hueytown Police

HUEYTOWN, AL (WBRC) -

One police department is fed up with the feds. Officers in Hueytown arrested an illegal immigrant on drug charges, when they ran his background they learned this was the 35th time he'd been arrested in Alabama.

And despite his record, the government refuses to deport him. It seems odd, but in Sofyan Eldani's case, the feds say they can't deport him to a country that doesn't exist. Eldani says Palestine is where he's from, a country the United States doesn't recognize.

When Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler contacted ICE agents about the recent arrest, he wasn't expecting the response he got. Here they had a man, Sofyan Eldani, who was not only in this country illegally, but had a criminal history that goes back 12 years. ICE wouldn't do anything according to Chief Hagler. "They sent us a piece of paper called a detainer... basically telling him we are going to deport, he said but he'll probably just laugh at you when you give it to him because he knows we're not going to come get him. That's what we were told by ICE," said Hagler.

In Jefferson and Shelby counties, Eldani has been arrested 35 times, all for different crimes ranging from bad checks to assault. Chief Hagler showed us his criminal history, "Seven pages, seven pages. It's not a matter of he came over here ....there was a misunderstanding of our laws, or he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or there are a lot of reason you could legitimately say somebody might have a brush with the law. There's reason somebody may have one or two brushes with the law. When you start getting into at the double digit arrests you are dealing with a criminal."

A criminal that just happens to be from Palestine, making Eldani a problem of the state of Alabama which is something Chief Hagler refuses to sit by and accept, "This is a legitimate immigration issue, this is a legitimate concern. We see so much attention paid to other issues. I wish somebody would pay attention to this one."

Chief Hagler says he's been through this before with someone they arrested that is Cuban. He says this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

For now, Eldani is behind bars on a $200,000 bond for those drug charges.

Feds can't deport illegal immigrant arrested 35 times in Alabama - WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

The first massive loads of Cuban boat people Castro deported to the United States in the 1970's were loaded with murderers, rapists, pedophiles, thieves, and mentally insane Cubans.

We send them money, looks like they are "recognized" enough for that.

Clinton Funds Palestinians Despite Congressional Hold

James Joyner · Thursday, April 12, 2012 ·

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is allowing U.S. funds to flow to the West Bank and Gaza despite a hold by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., a rare display of executive-branch authority that angered the key lawmaker concerned about protecting her congressional oversight role.
A State Department official saidthat a letter was delivered on Tuesday to key members of Congress informing them of Clinton’s decision to move forward with the $147 million package of the fiscal year 2011 economic support funds for the Palestinian people, despite Ros-Lehtinen’s hold. Administrations generally do not disburse funding over the objections of lawmakers on relevant committees.
The funds deliver “critical support to the Palestinian people and those leaders seeking to combat extremism within their society and build a more stable future. Without funding, our programs risk cancellation,” the official, who was not authorized to speak about the issue, said in an e-mail. “Such an occurrence would undermine the progress that has been made in recent years in building Palestinian institutions and improving stability, security, and economic prospects, which benefits Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Late last month, Ros-Lehtinen sent a letter to Clinton and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah, informing them she will lift her hold on some $88.6 million of the Palestinian aid package — out of the full $147 million — under special conditions. Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas, agreed to release her hold on the full assistance package on humanitarian grounds.

I both disagree with Ros-Lehtinen on the substance of her policy objection and am leery of Congressional micromanagement of US foreign policy in this manner. Still, the Executive doesn’t have the authority to overrule Congress on spending issues and the State Department’s powers exist mostly under delegation from Congress. This is a dangerous precedent, indeed, and I would expect Congress to act to reclaim its power here.
UPDATE: In a back-and-forth in the comments section, @Tano posits a perfectly reasonable question: “What is the alternative? Having the executive branch spend the money that Congress has appropriated without having a single member interfere? What is wrong with that?”
Let me respond here rather than in the comments section, as my initial posting was rather vague, and bump this post from a Quick Take to a longer post.
Under the current system, Congress gives the Executive money in big baskets with boatloads of discretionary authority–with the proviso that they can micromanage tiny bits of it if a powerful Member feels strongly about it. That’s not ideal, as I’ve already stipulated.
Removing the minor absurdities, though, may yield a worse system in which Congress attempts to micromanage larger parts of US foreign policy via the budget process. That’s assuming, of course, that Congress could actually manage to pass a budget under such a scenario.
The niceties of our system are rather silly but they lubricate what would otherwise be an even more fractious system and allow it to operate.


Clinton Funds Palestinians Despite Congressional Hold

Added to Homepage:
http://www.alipac.us/content/al-feds...immigrant-401/

Hueytown chief: Feds won't deport repeat drug offender because he's man without a country

Published: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 2:42 PM Updated: Thursday, April 19, 2012, 2:47 PM
By Carol Robinson -- The Birmingham News

HUEYTOWN, Alabama -- Illegal immigrant Sofyan Eldani has been arrested 35 times in 12 years while living in Alabama, but he remains here, federal authorities tell police, because they can't deport him to a country that doesn't exist.

Eldani, 45, carries an Egyptian passport, but claims to be from Palestine.

Hueytown police Chief Chuck Hagler said his officers arrested Eldani this week after they found him carrying crack cocaine. When they called Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, those officials said they were familiar with the convicted felon, but couldn't send him to his native country because the United States doesn't recognize Palestine as a country.

"I know I am just a simple, small-town police chief," Hagler said, " but it seems to me that a country that can send people to the moon should be able to get an illegal alien out of the country."

Hagler said a Hueytown police officer on Monday stopped a vehicle in which Eldani was a passenger for a traffic violation. Those inside were acting suspicious, Hagler said, and the officer ended up arresting Eldani for possession of an illegal substance.

A routine check of Eldani's criminal history proved more than interesting, he said.

Hagler said Eldani has been arrested 35 times on charges including assault, fraudulent checks, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, reckless endangerment, shoplifting, burglary, drug possession, failure to appear, probation violation, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI.

Alabama state court records show Eldani pleaded guilty in 2009 to drug possession and receiving stolen property; in 2008 to theft of property; in 2003 to four counts of fraudulent checks; in 2002 to two counts of theft of property; in 1997 to driving with a revoked license and in 1996 to being a pedestrian under the influence.

He has four felony convictions, Hagler said, and served six months in an Alabama prison for receiving stolen property.

"That's just his Alabama history," Hagler said.

When the Hueytown police called ICE about Eldani this week, Hagler said his officers were told to tell Eldani that federal immigration officials were going to come get him, but warned that Eldani would know they really wouldn't.

"They're saying because he is Palestinian, they can't make him leave because he doesn't have anywhere to go," Hagler said. "So basically, he has made it to home base and he is safe."

ICE officials told The Birmingham News they had to look further into the issue before commenting.

Hagler said he is frustrated. "Our problem is that he's here. Where he ends up really isn't our problem," the chief said.

"This is a guy who is obviously going to be a criminal, and everybody acknowledges he's not supposed to be here, but nobody will remove him," Hagler said. "With all the hysteria we've had on immigration, this is a real immigration issue."

AL.com

Updated: Hueytown police chief takes frustration with immigration policies to national TV (video)

Published: Sunday, April 22, 2012, 9:20 AM Updated: Sunday, April 22, 2012, 2:55 PM

By Carol Robinson -- The Birmingham News




Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler would like a stateless career criminal deported but federal officials say no country will accept him. (The Birmingham News file)

Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler's took his frustration with a career criminal who is an illegal alien to a national stage Sunday morning. Hagler appeared on Fox and Friends Sunday, speaking out against the federal government's inability to deport the man because it can find no country that will accept him.

MUST WATCH VIDEO FROM FOX AND FRIENDS
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#/v/1577072727001/a-man-without-a-country/?playlist_id=86912

Police arrested Sofyan Eldani, 45, last week after he was found to be in possession of crack cocaine during a traffic stop. Hagler learned Eldani has been arrested 35 times in 12 years in Alabama on charges ranging from bad checks to assault.

In a call to Immigration Customs and Enforcement officials, Hagler said he was told they knew of Eldani but couldn't do anything with him because they had no place to send him. Eldani carries an Egyptian passport, but claims to be from Palestine and the United States doesn't recognize Palestine as a country.

ICE officials said they have contacted Egypt, Israel and Kuwait, but they wouldn't accept Eldani. By law, ICE officials must release someone after 180 days if they have no place to send them.
Hagler said today on the national news show that its ironic Alabama is in the middle of high-profile immigration law litigation, yet seemingly nothing can be done with Eldani. "I am happy for it to be a federal issue," Hagler said on the show," but they need to step up and do something about it."

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