Wednesday, March 6, 2013

U.S. government resumes deportations to Somalia

As Somalia begins to stabilize, there is a downside for a small number of Somalis who have run afoul of the U.S. immigration system.For years, Somali immigrants whose deportations were ordered had nowhere to go. There was no functioning government in Somalia to accept them.In January, the United States recognized the government in Somalia for the first time in more than 20 years, and the U.S. has quietly resumed deportations to Somalia.The two countries have not restored full diplomatic relations. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement did get enough cooperation last year to begin returning some detainees who have been convicted of serious crimes while in the United States. ICE officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but a spokesperson confirmed that 24 people have been deported from Minnesota and other states so far.There was no big announcement of the policy change, said Marc Prokosch, an immigration attorney in Bloomington and chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association – Minnesota/Dakotas Chapter. Detainees found out when they were taken into custody after showing up for their regular check-in with immigration.
“It seems that the first wave — if you wanted to call it “wave” since there were only a handful — were people who would be seen as an ongoing threat to public safety, because of, for example the criminal sexual conduct convictions,” Prokosch said. “But we’ve been hearing of non-sexual crime convictions being taken into custody, for example, felony assault.”
Not all people with deportation orders have committed crimes. Some have been denied asylum. Prokosch said often those cases are because the detainees lack the documents to prove their identities. ICE does have prosecutorial discretion, Prokosch said. If someone has been law-abiding for years and is raising a family, deportation could be postponed further.
People who have been ordered deported but don’t have a country to return to are given work permits and check in periodically with immigration authorities.
Deportations to Somalia have been fraught with problems for years. More than a decade ago, the Advocates for Human Rights challenged the legality of returning people to a country without a functioning government. The repatriation techniques the U.S. was using raised red flags, attorney Michele Garnett McKenzie said.
“We just can’t sort of airlift people in and parachute them in without the country’s permission. That violates sovereignty and also more critically, it puts those people’s lives at risk,” Garnett McKenzie said.
The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the U.S. did have the right to return the detainees. But after a costly and failed attempt to send back a detainee in 2005, the U.S. put deportations to Somalia on hold.
While it may be difficult for someone to leave after many years, at least there is an orderly process now, Garnett McKenzie said.
“We hoped that the government of Somalia would form and stabilize and that human rights conditions would improve to the point that people could safety be returned, so people would not remain in limbo forever,” Garnett McKenzie said.
The stabilizing government in Somalia has not just affected detainees. Entrepreneurs and relatives from the Somali diaspora have taken advantage of the improved security situation to travel back.
Ahmed Samatar, professor of international studies at Macalester College, returned from Somalia in October after running for president there. Samatar said the resumption of deportations does not appear to be a big topic in Minnesota’s Somali community, perhaps because the number of people affected is quite small.
“Cases like that do happen but I think the vast majority of Somalis … are very, very busy with how to become successful people in the localities in which they’ve been received,” Samatar said.
ICE has not publicized its recent deportations or the criteria being used, although it is likely to be a topic at the next quarterly roundtable federal officials hold with the Somali community.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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