Fri Jun 15 2007 8:07 pm
Congressman Jim McDermott’s Double Standards: In His Own Words
Posted by Mash under Politics , Foreign Policy , Immigration , Bangladesh , TerrorismIn May of this year Congressman Jim McDermott made a speech in the House of Representatives. It was entitled "The Terrorist We Caught But Won’t Prosecute". In it he demanded that the Bush Administration hand over a terrorist caught on immigration charges to face his conviction in Cuba and Venezuela. He said:
Mr. Speaker, next week Luis Carriles is scheduled to stand trial for allegedly lying to immigration authorities when he entered the United States 2 years ago.
Most Americans have probably never heard of Carriles, but everyone should know the real case against him because it shows the double standard of the Bush administration and its so-called commitment to fight terrorism.
Carriles is being prosecuted for an immigration violation in America, but he has been convicted in other nations for acts of terrorism, including the downing of a commercial Cuban airliner over 30 years ago that killed 33 innocent people. He is a wanted international fugitive. The Bush administration knows this, but instead of turning Carriles over to the sovereign Governments of Cuba or Venezuela, as they have asked, we are going to get him on an immigration violation. [Emphasis added by me.]
You will note that this is the same Congressman who, again in May of this year, introduced a private bill in Congress, HR 2181, to give a green card to Mohiuddin AKM Ahmed, an international fugitive who has been convicted of murder in Bangladesh, with overwhelming evidence, and who has lost all his appeals in front of US courts and has been found to be involved in terrorist activity by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Department of Homeland Security was all set to deport, or as the congressman puts it - was about to turn over Mohiuddin to the sovereign government of Bangladesh - until McDermott introduced his private bill in Congress.
In the case of Mohiuddin, the Congressman was ready to substitute his judgment over the judgment of multiple US courts, the US State Department, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Bangladesh justice system, and the historical documentation. Congressman McDermott succeeded in postponing Mohiuddin’s deportation by one week. However, this week a District Judge once again ruled against Mohiuddin in his bid to try to use the private bill to stay the deportation. Once again Mohiuddin’s deportation appears imminent.
It is ironic that Jim McDermott should be talking about double standards.
bangladesh
coup immigration jim mcdermott mohiuddin ahmed terrorism 2 Responses to “Congressman Jim McDermott’s Double Standards: In His Own Words”
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June 30th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
So I take it that McDermott never withdrew the bill? I wrote him an email asking that he do so, hoping that maybe hearing from an ex-constituent and supporter would have some effect. Apparently, it didn’t. I never got a response.
At least the U.S. courts did their job.
June 30th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Cujo, McDermott never withdrew the bill, nor did I ever hear back from his office. Apparently the lobbying firm hired by Mohiuddin, Point Blank Public Affairs, did its job well.
But the bill was never marked up by the Immigration Subcommitte and Mohiuddin was deported to Bangladesh last week after he lost again at the District Court in California. He has appealed his conviction in Bangladesh. As expected, the Bangladesh Supreme Court has temporarily stayed his execution as it considers his petition. His contention that he would be led from the airport to the gallows is and always was nonsense.
Incidentally, he was mentioned on CNN a few days ago in a story about criminals wanted in their home countries who have been deported from the US by ICE. I suspect if the immigration debate heats up again, McDermott’s bill will be used as Exhibit A against granting any relief to immigrants. In that McDermott has done some serious damage to deserving immigrants.