In an August 14 phone interview, Michel Shehadeh, one of the Los Angeles Eight, reported that defense lawyers were informed by government representatives a few days before the August 5 deadline that the government had decided to appeal the decision by U.S. immigration Judge Bruce Einhorn.

"The government intends to appeal the decision to the BIA [Board of Immigration Appeals] with the aim of having it reversed. This whole process could take months to resolve," Shehadeh stated.

"In fact, we expect that this case could eventually work its way to the U.S. Supreme Court because of the issues involved. These are issues that affect the rights of every immigrant in this country."

In his decision Einhorn agreed with the argument of defense lawyers for Shehadeh and Khader Hamide that the two Palestinian men could not be charged retroactively with the 1990 "antiterrorism" law because they were already facing the threat of deportation under the McCarran-Walter Act, a 1950s witch-hunting law that has since been ruled unconstitutional.

In 1987 the eight immigrants were charged under the McCarran-Walter Act with possession of literature advocating "worldwide communism" and for having ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Call for Justice, a newsletter published by the Committee for Justice to Defend the LA Eight, explains that "since then, charges against them have been dropped and added repeatedly by the INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service], all aimed at constitutionally protected speech and associations."

Shehadeh reported that the group's lawyers would soon file papers asking the Board of Immigration Appeals to reject the government's appeal.

"We want people to continue to campaign to demand that the government drop the charges against us," Shehadeh said.  
 
 
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