The Hindu : International / India & World : U.S. deports suspected terrorist after 16-year-long legal wrangle

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Sunday, Feb 06, 2005

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International - India & World

U.S. deports suspected terrorist after 16-year-long legal wrangle

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, FEB. 5. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a suspected terrorist back to India this week after a 16-year-long legal fight that ended at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals last September.

ICE officers escorted 43-year-old Charenjit Singh back to India after federal courts made the determination that he was actively involved in terrorism, supporting terrorists and linked to two terror outfits in India.

`Key victory'

"The deportation caps a key victory for the ICE and closes a chapter in a very long fight to deport someone who has violated our laws," remarked Robb Emery, Division Chief of the ICE's National Security Division. "He is not the first terrorist to have tried to exploit the nation's immigration system, but we are committed to preventing others like him from succeeding," he added.

According to the ICE, Singh was arrested and placed on deportation mode on September 29, 1989 two days after he illegally entered the United States near El Paso, Texas. After initially being ordered to be deported for having failed to attend his immigration hearing, Singh successfully petitioned the immigration court to have his case not only reopened but also transferred to Philadelphia where he filed for permanent residency status in the United States. In 1998 an immigration judge granted him permanent residency status.

Babbar Khalsa member

The ICE appealed against the decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals stressing that under the Immigration and Nationality Act Charenjit Singh can never be eligible for permanent legal status in the United States because of his membership in terrorist groups. It said that one of the groups that he was associated with was the Babbar Khalsa, a group officially designated by the United States' State Department as a foreign terrorist organisation. According to The Washington Times, he was also linked to the Khalistan Commando Force.

The Board of Immigration Appeals went along with the ICE and ordered him to be deported on February 25,2003. Singh then appealed to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused to rule in his favour. Special Agents of ICE arrested Singh in Philadelphia on September 27,2004 and held him there until deportation.

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