DU Assist! "A Man Without A Country" Immigration Threatens Imprisonment

[Hissyspit]

"It's almost like communist crazy." - Arif's legal counsel, Tracy Davenport

Please nominate and kick.

Arif, who worked for Meals on Wheels, is an acquaintance/friend of mine, and is being threatened with arrest and imprisonment by U.S. Immigration officials. I have not seen him or heard from him in years, but I can say unequivocally that he has never lied to me nor my mother, who originally wrote a newspaper article about his situation back in the 1980s, and that I have no reason at all to doubt his character. He is what you might call a gentle, kind of passive younger brother type, who loves animals. The below linked article is from today's Fayetteville (NC) Observer and deals with the fact that Arif is being threatened by Immigration with imprisonment, despite being here without trouble since 1986; he is clearly caught up in the country's obsession with arbitrary and draconian enforcement of laws. (I believe he told us his father, whom he has not seen for over 20 years and whom he believes to be dead was Eastern European Muslim; his mother Greek Orthodox.)

My first reaction when he contacted us a few weeks ago was that his best bet was to have him get a (GOOD) lawyer and get in contact with elected representatives, and to get in touch with a representative. He has clearly done that as well, getting in touch with Sen. Elizabeth Dole's office. From the article, it is clear he has a lawyer (Tracy Davenport, an immigration defense lawyer in Louisiana), but today he told me of his financial problems and having his credit cards taken away by the government. He "lost everything," he said, when his mobile home was raided last year, including his cell phone. His major issue right now is transportation. He has a vehicle his nephew bought him, but he has no money for insurance, gas, or maintenance. (He cannot work without his work permit.) He lost all his savings after the arrest and his nephew (whom he is living with) spent $2,000 to help him get out of detention.

Please read the entire Observer article. Some further details on the story from me:

My mother, a small-town newspaper editor/reporter, wrote a series of articles on him back in 1986/7. When he was being deported then by the U.S., he asked her to come get his dachshund dog, Sissy, and we kept her for a few days. When Germany refused to accept him into the country, he picked her up again. (She was apparently poisoned by a neighbor a year or two later). He had a social security number and a drivers license. He had a work permit, but no green card. He literally is the proverbial 'Man Without A Country.' "All I want is my little job back," he said, with Meals On Wheels in Elkin, N.C. Apparently Davenport doubts that Arif can become naturalized and the deadline for checking in with immigration officials is Sept. 7. He has to be in Charlotte by then to present proof of his denial of a passport/visa by the German government. He read me a letter over the phone he said was dated July 27 which apparently states just that. He has no proof of German citizenship and has been gone from there for 20 years, so they don't want him.

I believe the ACLU would be interested in his situation, as well. It would not hurt him, I would think, to have some support/information from DU. Cards would be nice. And contact and legal help. I am not really asking for anything specifically - I am just throwing this out here to see the best kinds of responses, hopefully, that are part of the character of democraticunderground.com.

I have permission from Arif to post his address and phone number. It is:
Arif Dzuber
102 Riven Park Road
Spring Lake NC 28390
[phone]

I have the lawyer's contact information and have left a message for her to get permission to post her fax/phone number or discuss a legal/defense fund. I will post updates.


http://www.fayettevilleobserver.com/story.php?Template=local&Story=7088981

A Man Without a Country
By Andrew Barksdale
Staff writer
Fayetteville Observer

- snip -

Dzubur overstayed his visa when he visited North Carolina in 1981 from Germany. But when the United States was unable to deport him in 1986, the government gave him a Social Security card and released him.

He stayed out of trouble and never heard from immigration officials again - until they showed up 18 years later. They picked him up Dec. 1 at the Austin Community Center in Wilkes County, west of Winston-Salem.

The officers escorted him outside. Dzubur hugged his co-workers. "Pray for me," he told the women. He was shaking.
On the ride to Winston-Salem, he had reason to relax: It's only an official checkup, he was told.

Dzubur, who is 58, spent the next five months in a Louisiana prison, caught up in a federal crackdown on illegal aliens.

His lawyer, Tracy Davenport, said he was released May 5 because the government can't lock up illegal aliens indefinitely if they have committed no crimes or pose no danger. And in Dzubur's case, she said, he is unlikely to be deported.

Davenport, an immigration defense lawyer in Rayne, La., said the United States was lax about deporting nonviolent illegal aliens before it revamped immigration laws in 1996. She said the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, boosted enforcement even more.
"Now they are going out of their way to pick up anybody who does not have legal status," she said. "It's really bad now. It's almost like communist crazy."

MORE ARTICLE AT LINK

[Hissyspit]

1. kick