Posted on 09/26/2005 8:27:25 PM PDT by Calpernia
SAN FRANCISCO – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today that the former imam of the Lodi mosque who was arrested in June on immigration violations has been removed from the United States and returned to Pakistan.
ICE officials say the removal of Shabbir Ahmed, 38, was completed overnight with his arrival in Pakistan on board a commercial flight escorted by ICE officers. The cleric’s deportation follows an August 15 immigration hearing where he advised Immigration Judge Anthony Murry that he was abandoning his legal fight to remain in the United States and would accept an order of removal to Pakistan. ICE agents took Ahmed into custody June 6 for violating the terms of his visa.
“With Mr. Ahmed’s removal from the United States, ICE has once again fulfilled its mission to protect our country,” said Ronald E. Le Fevre, San Francisco ICE chief counsel. “His removal sends a strong message that ICE will continue to use every tool at its disposal to preserve the integrity of our immigration system and prevent foreign nationals from conducting activities within our borders that pose a threat to this country.”
During Ahmed’s immigration proceedings, ICE attorneys presented evidence tying the Lodi cleric to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. That evidence included a diagram showing the relationship between Ahmed and several other Lodi-area men who have been taken into custody by federal authorities.
One of those individuals, Imam Mohammad Adil Khan, was arrested by ICE on immigration violations and removed to Pakistan last month. Two other men, Umer Hayat, and his son, Hamid Hayat, have been indicted on criminal charges.
According to ICE attorneys, Ahmed’s long-term goal was to establish a madrassah or religious school in Lodi similar to the madrassah in Rawalpindi, Pakistan where he and Khan previously worked. Evidence presented during the proceeding showed that this madrassah has been used to recruit individuals to engage in jihad.
Our borders are wide open, he'll be back in no time.
You know what's interesting (or it is to me)? My family lived in Lodi for about a year, about 30 years ago or so. There was quite a Pakastani community there, even then. My brother was in Jr. High and remembers a fight that he joined in because kids were picking on a his friend (Pakastani) We've wondered if that family is still there and if they are part of this community.
Don't worry he probably sneak back to US under assume name
So now he is in a place where he has even more freedom to preach his hateful bullshit. Good move, ICE. Idiots.
Not stuck in Lodi any longer.
One less sheethead troublemaker to worry about.
Time to clean out the rest of the nest of vipers.
If it were me, I'd have kicked him out at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic.
Insane. What actually is this supposed to achieve???
Can't get any lower than Lodi, or "Once You Land In Lodi, You've Hit Bottom".
It is absolutely insane. Throw the bad seeds to the wind.
should have been shot
Watch it!!
Guess you've never been to Stockton.
Actually Lodi is a lovely town for the most part.
Should have been shot indeed. What is deporting? With internet and cell phones? It just puts him closer to the wound from whence all putrid stench comes.
"It just puts him closer to the wound from whence all putrid stench comes."
Maybe the Pakies will kill him.
Why isn't he in GITMO?
I don't think the Pakis will kill him. But maybe it's a good place for Special Forces guys to find him. Different laws there.
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