The ruling by Judge Bruce Einhorn agreed with the argument of defense lawyers for the two Palestinian men that a 1990 "anti-terrorism" law cannot be applied retroactively against Hamide and Shehadeh because both were already facing deportation under the McCarran-Walter Act, a 1950s witch-hunting law that has since been ruled unconstitutional. The June 21 decision, which was not made public until a week later, registers a substantial victory for democratic rights.

Hamide and Shehadeh are part of a group called the "L.A. Eight"--seven Palestinians and a Kenyan living in the Los Angeles area. In 1987 the eight immigrants were charged under the McCarran-Walter Act with possessing 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 Los Angeles Eight, explains that "since then [1987], charges against them have been dropped and added repeatedly by the INS, all aimed at constitutionally protected speech and associations."

"This decision is significant for the immigrant community, for the communities against U.S. policies in the Mideast, and communities opposed to U.S. policies worldwide," said Michel Shehadeh. Currently the West Coast director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Shehadeh was arrested at gunpoint in a predawn raid of his home in January 1987.

"With my wife already at work, I was taking care of my three-year-old son Ibrahim when the agents barged into my home," he said. "As they pushed me into the police car, I was shocked to see that they had left my frantic child behind all alone."

"This decision is the beginning of defeating the government's attempts to silence the Palestinians," said Shehadeh in a recent phone interview. "This is not the end of this case. We must keep mobilizing to bring the case to an end and defeat totally the government's attempt to use it as an incubator for repressive legislation and case law against activists."

Marc Van Der Hout, one of the attorneys for the L.A. Eight, told the Los Angeles Times, "This is a tremendously significant decision and hopefully it will put an end to this outrageous prosecution of our clients, who have done nothing other than engage in protected 1st Amendment activity."

The Los Angeles Eight have won a number of important legal rulings over the last 14 years. These include a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court in 1998 that the Constitution does not permit "guilt by association." Another important decision by 9th Circuit Court judge Stephen Wilson declared the McCarran-Walter Act unconstitutional. A federal appeals court reversed Wilson's ruling, but on technical grounds, saying the Los Angeles Eight were not far enough along in their deportation proceedings to raise the issue. The law was later repealed.

The Los Angeles Eight have attracted widespread support, even from editorials in bourgeois dailies in Southern California, among them the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Orange County Register. An editorial titled, "Feds Should Drop Unjust L.A. 8 Case," in the July 12, 2001, issue of the Orange County Register stated, "The dispute comes down to a simple question: Should eight immigrants who are in the United States legally be deported for taking part in political activities that would unquestionably be protected if they were full-fledged U.S. citizens?...

"The Bush administration has the opportunity to put an end to a long-running and capricious Immigration and Naturalization Service case against a group of immigrants known as the L.A. Eight. For the sake of justice, the administration simply needs to drop its case against the group--something easy to do now that a Los Angeles immigration judge ruled against the INS in late June."

Criminal charges have never been filed against the Los Angeles Eight. Over the course of the last 14 years of the legal battle, three of the eight won permanent resident status and no longer face any charges. Three others face what their lawyers call "minor charges," such as overstaying a student visa. Hamide and Shehadeh were legal residents of the United States at the time they were arrested in 1987. According to the ADC, the only grounds on which the INS could continue its deportation efforts now would be under the defunct McCarran-Walter Act. In his June 21 ruling Judge Einhorn gave the Justice Department a deadline of August 5 to decide whether to proceed with the charges against the two.
 
 
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Celebrate, build on L.A. 8 win
 
 
 
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