GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A Somalia citizen designated for removal from the U.S. told immigration agents he wasn’t going back – and put up a fight at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
He missed his flight but he’ll get another one, a federal judge said.
Issa Abdiraham Mohamad, held since Sept. 12, 2014, says his due-process rights have been violated by his continued unlawful detention.
The U.S. Supreme Court says such detainees should only be held 90 days, with an outside limit of six months under a showing of a “strong special justification.”
They cannot be held indefinitely.
“(Mohamed) argues that his continued detention violates his Due Process rights, as he has been detained for almost a year and a half while waiting to be removed,” U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar wrote Monday, Feb. 29.
“(The government) contends that the only reason he is still being detained is because of his own actions (as he would currently be in Somalia had he complied with his most recent removal travel arrangements),” he wrote.
Edgar said the process was also slowed by Somolia’s new government requiring briefing of procedures for removal of Somali nationals from the U.S.
If he had been released from custody, Mohamed would have still been under the supervision of U.S. officials.
Court records show that Mohamed received a humanitarian parole in the U.S. on Nov. 13, 1992, and became a lawful permanent resident three years later. In November 1999, he was convicted in Washtenaw County Circuit Court of fourth-degree criminal-sexual conduct.
An immigration judge in August 2000 ordered his removal from the U.S. Mohamed was released under supervision by ICE.
ICE eventually obtained authorization from Somalia to remove Mohamed. In September 2014, he was taken into custody. Four days before his flight was to take place, Somalia rescinded travel authorization until ICE representatives could meet with Somali officials.
Other Somali nationals were removed in February 2015, but Somalia again rescinded authorization for Mohamed.
On Dec. 30, 2015, the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Somalia in Kenya issued temporary documents, expiring two weeks later, that allowed his travel to Somalia.
The Jan. 3 flight was to leave Detroit for Washington Dulles International Airport, then fly to Ethiopia and finally to Kenya. In Kenya, ICE agents were to escort Mohamed to Somalia with two others removed from the U.S.
Mohamed, who had been held in the Chippewa County Jail, was taken to Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
“Before, during and after being brought to the Detroit Airport, Petitioner informed the ICE Officers that he refused to return to Somalia,” the judge wrote.
With help of airport police, ICE agents put Mohamed in restraints. He refused to pass through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint or enter the concourse to board a plane.
“Due to his verbal noncompliance and subsequent physical altercation with the ICE Officers and Detroit Airport Police, Petitioner missed his flight,” the judge wrote.
The next opening for Mohamed is in May. He should get his bags packed, the judge said.
“Overall, Petitioner has not demonstrated that he is being detained unconstitutionally, or that it is unreasonable for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to continue his detention beyond the six-month period because it is reasonably likely that he will be removed in the foreseeable future,” Edgar wrote.
Source: mlive.com
John Agar covers crime and other issues for MLiveE-mail John Agar:[email protected] and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ReporterJAgar
