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ANOTHER PERSON DETAINED ON SECRET EVIDENCE IS RELEASED
Last month we told you about the release of Hany Mahmoud Kiareldeen, an immigrant who had been detained by the INS on the basis of secret evidence claimed to link him to the World Trade Center bombing (http://www.visalaw.com/99nov/17nov99.html).  Now another person being held on the basis of secret evidence has been released and the INS has decided not to appeal the decision to the Attorney General Janet Reno.  
Nasser K. Ahmed has finally been released after spending over three years in INS custody.  Ahmed was detained based on secret FBI evidence claimed to link him to Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the Muslim cleric convicted of conspiring to blow up the United Nations building in New York.  Ahmed was order released by an Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, but each time the INS appealed the decision.  
Some analysts suspect the reason for the INS’ decision to not seek an answer from Reno was to avoid a decision that would have had an impact on all those detained because of secret evidence (about 20 cases in all).  By taking this approach, while Ahmed was released, the INS is still free to detain others using secret evidence.  
The use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings has been hotly debated.  The government claims such evidence must be used to ensure national security.  Immigrant advocates and groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union claim the use of secret evidence is unconstitutional and is often used when there is really no evidence at all.  For support, they point to the fact that in most of these cases when judges finally do see the evidence, they order people released.  For example, in Ahmed’s case, before the judge saw the secret evidence he ordered Ahmed deported.  After some of the evidence was released, the same judge ruled that Ahmed should not be deported, and should be released from custody.  
Next year the deportation case against Ahmed is expected to continue.  The INS claims he is a terrorist and a threat to US national security.  Ahmed is seeking political asylum, claiming he will be tortured if forced to return to Egypt.