BY HARRY RING
LOS ANGELES - In their ongoing fight against deportation, the Los Angeles 8 have scored two important gains for democratic rights.
Rejecting a government appeal, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that noncitizens have the same First Amendment right to freedom of speech and association as citizens. It also ruled that the government cannot use secret evidence that is available to only one side in a deportation case.
The government has been trying to deport the L.A. 8 - seven Palestinians and a Kenyan - for the past eight years. The government claims that the eight are supporters of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which it brands as terrorist. The PFLP is an affiliate of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The eight have lived here for years. Two are permanent legal residents, the others have visas.
Earlier in the case, Federal Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that the Bill of Rights applied with equal force to noncitizens. He also barred the government from using "classified" information to thwart two of the eight in their bid for permanent residence status. The Justice Department appealed these rulings to the Ninth Circuit Court. The court's decision, handed down November 8, rejected the government appeal on both counts.
The court also upheld a preliminary injunction issued by judge Wilson barring the selective enforcement of immigration statutes against six of the eight.
And the court ruled that Wilson was wrong when he held he lacked the jurisdiction to issue such an injunction on behalf of Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh, who are permanent U.S. residents. It's expected he will now extend the preliminary injunction to cover them as well.
In oral arguments before the Appeals Court, the government lawyer, Michael Linderman claimed there had been no selective enforcement. He claimed that when the 1984 Olympic Games were held here, the government began to investigate "terrorism" and found the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine to be very active in the Los Angeles Arab community. And, he added, they found "these people support the PFLP."
Further, he contended, deportations can be based on foreign policy considerations. The PFLP, he argued, opposes U.S. "peace" efforts in the Mideast and assertedly "kills people" to block these efforts.
From the outset, the government has acknowledged it could not prosecute citizens for supporting the PFLP. The Appeals Court said this poses the key question: "Whether aliens may be deported because of their associational activities with particular groups, or...are entitled to the full panoply of First Amendment rights of expression and association."
"Guilt by association." they added, violates the First
Amendment.
Marc Van Der Hout, one of the attorneys for the L.A. 8,
said, "We are overjoyed" by the appeals court ruling.
"At a time when anti-immigrant efforts are at a peak," he added, "the court's decision confirms that the Bill of Rights applies to all people in the United States, and our most basic freedoms are not limited to citizens."
Currently in the Congressional hopper is the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, introduced by the Clinton administration.
The bill would give the president the power to arbitrarily declare organizations "terrorist." Noncitziens accused of terrorism could be tried by a special court in secret session, and could be convicted on the basis of secret evidence.
In effect, the Appeals Court decision brands the measure unconstitutional.
The Justice Department has not yet said how it will respond to the ruling by the three-judge panel. It has the option of requesting a review by the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, or taking it to the Supreme Court.
Charlene Castle in Los Angeles contributed to this article.