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LETTER: U.S. government’s apathy presents largest hurdle in fight against man’s deportation

By LOUIE GOHMERT
U.S. representative

Lufkin Daily News
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

The situation with Rrustem Neza has been both intolerable and frustrating for more than eight months now as we have fought to assist him with our own unfeeling and, thus far, unyielding government. Our own federal laws regarding privacy have prevented me from coming forward with our efforts thus far, but Rrustem’s family has encouraged me to respond and has approved this statement so that we do not say anything inappropriate.

Nonetheless, for me to be aware of the vast failures of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in their widespread allowance of illegal immigration only to have them remain relentless in the Nezas’ case has only added to the frustration. The Executive Branch through the Department of Homeland Security, CIS, and ICE has authority to take the actions they are taking, but they should not have the right. Through our efforts on Rrustem’s behalf, the best we got from CIS was that they would continue to consider our admonitions and pleas on the family’s behalf and that IF there were to be a deportation, they would certainly let me know ahead of time. Imagine my absolute anger when we had to read about the outrageous attempt to deport Rrustem unsuccessfully, and they now want to sedate him in order to send him to what may well be his death.

As most people know, I am a strong believer in following the laws regarding Immigration. However, we have laws to allow people to remain here based on asylum and the need to protect their lives. Yes, as the CIS keeps pointing out, Rrustem apparently came in on an Italian passport which was not appropriate. However, when people came by subterfuge from Communist Cold War countries, we did not condemn them and send them back. We accepted them in a humanitarian spirit to save their lives. Rrustem was also not aware that the attorney they had hired had listed that he was a citizen in the application for a liquor license for their restaurant, but that is the other issue that CIS, ICE, and Homeland Security keep hurling back at us.

My office and I have and will continue to personally work with Xhemal Neza, Rrustem Neza’s brother, to attempt to stop this travesty of justice. We are told that if we can find an alternative country that will take him, our government will attempt to accommodate that request. However, they have more ability to help find such a country than anyone else and yet they have not been helpful in that effort so far.

When I found out about the effort to get an order for sedation, I immediately sent letters in the nature of Amicus Curiae submissions to U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings who presides over the effort of our Executive Branch to have Mr. Neza sedated while being sent back. I personally approached Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice face to face and have attempted to contact Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff who has had an assistant contacting me instead. So far, those efforts have not been fruitful, but the deportation order needs to be changed.

I have notified them more recently that if Rrustem is returned to Albania to meet his untimely death, as a Congressman I will not stop the hounding of those in our own government until they are out by using the actual names of those bureaucrats complicitous in his murder by their apathy and callousness. This would not be out of revenge, but out of my fervent desire for better people in our United States government. Hopefully, the thought of being held to ridicule indefinitely will give the bureaucrats cause for pause that the possible murder of Mr. Neza, unfortunately, has not.

Email from John Wheat Gibson: “Government refuses to allow Neza to present case to immigration judge, and refuses to allow him to go somewhere besides Albania. Attached is the . . . letter of the government refusing to allow him to present his asylum case to an immigration judge.”

Sign Away Your Rights to Protest says US Attorney to Albanian Refugee in Nov. 30 Letter

Editor’s Note: Read the US Government’s latest rebuff to Albanian refugee Rrustem Neza (in pdf format), instructing him to restrain himself and not resist a deportation that would place him in fear for his life.

The US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas notes that Mr. Neza’s appeals to immigration authorities and to US courts have all come to nothing: “There is no reason, therefore, to accept your premise that Mr. Neza will be harmed if he is removed to Albania, either on the basis of his original asylum claim or his new assertion based on the self-generated publicity of his case.”

The US Attorney does not give his own reasons why he discounts evidence of other killings in this case.

But the US Attorney does parry with a counteroffer: “Therefore, in the spirit of reaching an amicable resolution in this case, the United States is willing to dismiss the current civil action, without prejudice, conditioned on Mr. Neza’s written agreement to cease and desist in his efforts to prevent or hamper his removal by physical resistance or other disruptive conduct intended or designed to achieve that result. In that event, there would be no need to seek the aid of the district court to enforce his removal.”

To our nonlawerly ears this sounds like a US Attorney using the power of office to mock the fears of a refugee. But we’re checking with attorney Gibson to see if there’s some hope we’re not finding.–gm

PS: We asked Gibson about the “last paragraph” in the Nov. 30 letter from Assistant US Attorney E. Scott Frost. Here’s how Gibson replied:

Frost’s last paragraph, “I look forward to your response in the near future,” seems to refer to the previous two, in which Frost offers not to
obtain an order to drug Rrustem if Rrustem will agree in writing to be deported to Albania without making a ruckus.

Frost is offering to let Rrustem get off the plane sufficiently alert to run from the killers so he will be shot in the back, rather than so drugged that
the killers can blow him away without his waking up. This is the generosity of the Chertoff-Mukasey regime.

John Wheat Gibson

John Wheat Gibson
P.C., Attorney at Law
Dallas, Texas

John Wheat Gibson
Joyce Asber
Salvador Ibarra (1946-1992)

Cursed is the man who withholds
justice from the alien, the
fatherless, or the widow.
–Deuteronomy 27:19

For Settlement Purposes Only

16 November 2007

Ms. Ann Roberts
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Lubbock, Texas

Re: U.S. v. Neza, Civ. No. 1:07-CV-0176-C

Dear Ms. Roberts:

Please consider the following proposal to settle the litigation now pending in the Northern District Court at Abilene. It is intended to resolve matters to the satisfaction of both plaintiff and defendant.

This offer of settlement eliminates both the ugly publicity the government has received and will receive in the future if the case is not settled and the gruesome consequences to Mr. Neza if the outcome is unfavorable. I propose an agreement after which I will praise the government as fair and reasonable, and Mr. Neza will depart the United States if he is denied asylum.

Pursuant to this proposed contract the government will perform as follows:

1) Mr. Neza will be released from detention on posting of a bond within the means of his family, but sufficient to assure his compliance with his obligations. I would suggest $50,000.00.

2) The parties will file a joint motion to reopen Mr. Neza’s asylum case at the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Mr. Neza will perform as follows:

1) He will post the required bond for his release from detention.

2) Mr. Neza will present his case for asylum to the Executive Office for Immigration Review de novo.

3) If the Board of Immigration Appeals sustains a denial of asylum to Mr. Neza and orders his removal from the U.S. after the de novo hearing, then he will depart the United States at his own expense not later than 90 days after the date his attorney is served with the BIA decision.

4) Mr. Neza will agree that if he does not comply with the final order of the EOIR, then he will a) forfeit the bond; b) be subject to arrest and detention; and c) waive any objection to sedation in connection with his deportation.

5) Mr. Neza and his counsel will cease to speak ill of the government’s desire to remove Mr. Neza, but will communicate to the media that have been following the case their belief that the government is acting with reason, justice, compassion, and respect for the law.

I hope you will accept this offer because it constitutes a victory for all parties. The government will appear reasonable and receive favorable publicity, accordingly. The government will be relieved of the necessity of further brutality and embarrassment, and will be rid of Mr. Neza if he loses his asylum case. The government no longer will have to worry about explaining to the media after Mr. Neza is murdered in Albania why they obstinately drugged and deported him.

Mr. Neza, in the unlikely event that he loses his asylum claim, will save his life by going with his family to some place besides Albania.

Rejection of this offer of settlement, on the other hand, will be irrefutable proof that the government has totally disregarded reason, justice, compassion, and respect for law. I invite you to share with me a resolution in which we all win, rather than continue the strife in which the government can only lose, regardless of the outcome, and Mr. Neza, with no certainty of success, must fight to the finish to avoid being killed. Please share this offer with Paul Hunker, Chief District Counsel for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Respectfully submitted,
JOHN WHEAT GIBSON, P.C.

Austin, Texas — A coalition of Austin-based immigrant rights, human rights, student and faith organizations will join in a state-wide day of action on Leap Day 2012 in protests against private detention company investments. Protestors are calling for major investors such as Wells Fargo to divest of their holdings in the for-profit private prison industry. According to SEC filings, Wells Fargo currently holds over 3.5 million shares in private prison corporation GEO Group as well as shares in Corrections Corporation of America.

Participants in the protest will gather outside of the Wells Fargo located at 2354 Guadalupe Street from 3:30- 4:30 on Wednesday, Feb. 29.

On January 24th, 2012 groups delivered a letter to the Wells Fargo branch manager. The letter gave detailed information about their request for divestment. In an effort to promote dialogue, the letter asked for a response by February 15th. Wells Fargo failed to respond.

“For-profit prison companies, which rely on billions of tax dollars as their primary source of revenue, regularly lobby federal and state governments to ensure their interests are met,” said Bob Libal of Grassroots Leadership. “Corporations like GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America benefit from a cruel detention and deportation policy that has affected many members of our community.” Recent reports by the Houston Chronicle and PBS showed that rape and sexual abuse of detainees is rampant across the increasingly privatized federal immigrant detention system.

Wells Fargo, a recipient of billions of bailout dollars, is a major contributor to politicians who have championed the increased incarceration of immigrants. Wells Fargo has also played a key role supporting GEO business ventures.

Peter Cervantes-Gautschi of Enlace, a national coalition coordinating the protests, stated “The United Methodist Church divested its entire holdings from CCA and GEO; these investors should follow the UMC’s responsible investment example.”

The UMC Pension is one of the largest faith-based pension funds in the United States and ranks among the top 100 pension funds in the country. Prominent hedge fund, Pershing Square Management Fund, also divested its over $180 million in CCA holdings after the launch of the Prison Divestment Campaign last year.

Wells Fargo protests will also take place on Wednesday in San Antonio and Houston.