Sunday, September 7, 2008

INB 9/7/08: Al-Arian Released, Flower Grower Raided

Immigration News Briefs
Vol. 11, No. 22 - September 7, 2008

1. Civil Rights Activist Al-Arian Released
2. Texas Town's Rental Ban Overturned
3. Marchers Oppose Border Fence
4. Raid at California Flower Grower
5. Poultry Workers Charged, Raid Feared
6. Immigrants March in Denver

Immigration News Briefs is a weekly supplement to Weekly News Update on the Americas, published by Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012; tel 212-674-9499; weeklynewsupdate@gmail.com; http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com. INB is also distributed free via email; contact immigrationnewsbriefs@gmail.com to subscribe or unsubscribe. You may reprint or distribute items from INB, but please credit us and tell people how to subscribe. Immigration News Briefs is posted at http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com.

*1. CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST AL-ARIAN RELEASED
On Sept. 2 in Alexandria, Virginia, former Florida professor and civil rights activist Sami Al-Arian was finally released on bail after spending five-and-a-half years in jail. Al-Arian had been transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Apr. 11 of this year, then transferred back to US Marshals custody on June 30 after being charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury. After US District Judge Leonie Brinkema ordered Al-Arian's release on bail on July 10, the government transferred him back to ICE custody, claiming it was attempting to deport him. Brinkema reaffirmed the bail order on Aug. 8 as she postponed the criminal contempt trial, pending a Supreme Court ruling on Al-Arian's appeal challenging the government's right to compel him to testify [see INB 8/16/08, 7/5/08, 4/27/08, 3/29/08, 3/24/07, 6/10/06]. On Aug. 25, Al-Arian's attorneys filed a habeas petition demanding his release; Brinkema gave ICE until Sept. 2 to respond. The agency's response came in the form of an order for Al-Arian's release on bail. Al-Arian's family met him as he was released from an ICE facility in Fairfax, Virginia. He remains under house arrest. [Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace 9/2/08; Tampa Tribune 7/1/08] [...]

Read the full INB:
http://immigrationnewsbriefs.blogspot.com/2008/09/inb-9708-al-arian-released-flower.html

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