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San Francisco Chronicle – August 26, 2006
Two Pakistani Americans refused entry back into U.S.
By Demian Bulwa
Sacramento -- The federal government has barred two relatives of a Lodi man convicted of supporting terrorists from returning to the country after a lengthy stay in Pakistan, placing the U.S. citizens in an extraordinary legal limbo.
Muhammad Ismail, a 45-year-old naturalized citizen born in Pakistan, and his 18-year-old son, Jaber Ismail, who was born in the United States, have not been charged with a crime. However, they are the uncle and cousin of Hamid Hayat, a 23-year-old Lodi cherry packer who was convicted in April of supporting terrorists by attending a Pakistani training camp.
Federal authorities said Friday that the men, both Lodi residents, would not be allowed back into the country unless they agreed to FBI interrogations in Pakistan. An attorney representing the family said agents have asked whether the younger Ismail trained in terrorist camps in Pakistan.
The men and three relatives had been in Pakistan for more than four years and tried to return to the United States on April 21 as a federal jury in Sacramento deliberated Hayat's fate. But they were pulled aside during a layover in Hong Kong and told there was a problem with their passports, said Julia Harumi Mass, their attorney.
The father and son were forced to pay for a flight back to Islamabad because they were on the government's "no-fly" list, Mass said. Muhammad Ismail's wife, teenage daughter and younger son, who were not on the list, continued on to the United States.
Neither Muhammad nor Jaber Ismail holds dual Pakistani citizenship, Mass said.
"We haven't heard about this happening -- U.S. citizens being refused the right to return from abroad without any charges or any basis," said Mass, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union.
McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for California's eastern district, confirmed Friday that the men were on the no-fly list and were being kept out of the country until they agreed to talk to federal authorities. "They've been given the opportunity to meet with the FBI over there and answer a few questions, and they've declined to do that," Scott said.
Mass said Jaber Ismail had answered questions during an FBI interrogation at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad soon after he was forced back to Pakistan. She said the teenager had run afoul of the FBI when he declined to be interviewed again without a lawyer and refused to take a lie-detector test.
The Ismails had been in Pakistan partly so Jaber could study the Quran, Mass said. She said that neither he nor his father had anything to do with terrorism.
"They want to come home and have an absolute right to come home," said Mass, who has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security and a petition with the Transportation Security Administration.
"They can't be compelled to waive their constitutional rights under threat of banishment," Mass said. "The government is conditioning the return to their home on cooperation with law enforcement." …….
On Friday, Hayat's father, ice cream truck driver Umer Hayat, 48, was formally sentenced at U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
In a deal with prosecutors, the elder Hayat pleaded guilty in June to charges of lying to customs agents about $28,000 he was carrying during a trip to his native Pakistan. He avoided a retrial on more serious charges of lying to the FBI about his son's training in Pakistan. He was sentenced to the 330 days in jail that he already served.
Speaking publicly for the first time, Umer Hayat said outside the courthouse that he "got screwed" and "hates terrorists." He said he had fabricated his own videotaped FBI confession -- in which he described visiting a militant camp in Pakistan where his son had allegedly trained -- because agents refused to believe the truth and because he was tired.
He said he had borrowed his description of masked terrorists firing guns, swinging swords and pole vaulting in a basement from "the newspaper and the TV," as well as from a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video game belonging to his children. He said his ice cream truck bears a photo of one of the turtles, advertising a $1.25 ice cream bar…….
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/08/26/LODI.TMP
San Francisco Chronicle – September 13, 2006
Two Pakistani Americans allowed to return to US
By Demian Bulwa
Two relatives of a Lodi man who was convicted of supporting terrorists have been cleared to return home from a long trip to Pakistan, ending a five-month standoff in which the U.S. citizens were told they had to cooperate with the FBI to get off the government's no-fly list, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.
"There's been a change," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and would not detail the reason for the move, which was made by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Lodi residents Muhammad Ismail, a 45-year-old naturalized citizen born in Pakistan, and his 18-year-old son, Jaber Ismail, who was born in the United States, were never charged with a crime. But they are the uncle and cousin of Hamid Hayat, 23, who was convicted in April of supporting terrorists by attending a Pakistani training camp and is awaiting sentencing.
McGregor Scott, the U.S. attorney for California's Eastern District, confirmed last month that the men were on the government-maintained list that bars some people from flying on airlines to or from the United States.
"They've been given the opportunity to meet with the FBI over there and answer a few questions," Scott said, "and they've declined to do that."
Julia Harumi Mass, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who filed a complaint with the Homeland Security Department on behalf of the Ismails, said when told of the government's reported change of heart that the men would probably book a flight home soon.
She said the two received a letter from Homeland Security last week stating that their records had been "modified to address any delay or denial of boarding." The letter, though, did not make clear whether they could fly.
"If that's true, it's very good news," Mass said. "The fact that the government has retreated from its position after we filed our administrative claims, and the public became aware of it, highlights how plainly wrong it was to require the Ismails to give up their constitutional rights in order to come home."
Joanna Gonzalez, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the agency's Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties "did some research on the case and did make appropriate changes." She would not say what the changes were.
The Ismails and three relatives had been in Pakistan for more than four years and tried to return to their home in Lodi on April 21 as a federal jury in Sacramento deliberated Hayat's fate. But they were pulled aside during a layover in Hong Kong, Mass said. The father and son were forced to turn back to Islamabad, while Muhammad Ismail's wife, 15-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son continued on to the United States…..
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/13/BAGG9L4KHG1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea
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