Feds rule out sedating man in deportation case
Waiting to see the outcome of a bill filed on E. Texas man's behalf, authorities ask court to suspend request
Associated Press
DALLAS — Immigration authorities asked a federal court on Tuesday to drop their request for now to be able to sedate an Albanian man before putting him on an airplane for deportation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are waiting to see what happens with a bill in Congress that would suspend Rustrem Neza's deportation.
ICE petitioned late last year for permission to medicate Neza, an East Texas restaurant owner and asylum seeker agents couldn't deport in August because he was terrified and would not calm down while at the airport.
Neza's deportation was postponed last month when the House subcommittee on immigration began examining his case as part of a private bill. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a conservative Republican from Tyler, introduced the bill seeking to give Neza lawful permanent resident status.
An agreement between Congress and the Department of Homeland Security prevents immigrants from being deported while a private bill to benefit them is considered. In Neza's case, it keeps ICE from deporting him before March 2009.
"As a result, it would be prudent to conserve the Court's judicial resources ... until such time as Neza's removal can be affected," the Northern District of the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in its motion seeking dismissal.
Despite halting efforts to remove and sedate Neza, the government contends it's unlikely the private bill will be passed by Congress and signed by the president. So ICE would again seek to deport Neza to Albania and likely ask the court again for permission to sedate him, according to court papers.
None of the 73 private immigration bills introduced during the last session of Congress were approved, the government said in court papers.
Neza fears deportation will put his life in jeopardy because he publicly identified the men accused of gunning down a Democratic leader in 1998, his family and attorney said.
He lost a bid for asylum and appeals to reverse the decision. Two of Neza's brothers won asylum after also fleeing Albania.
When immigration authorities tried to deport Neza in August, airlines officials at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport refused to let him fly because he was frightened. Neza physically resisted and shouted while at the terminal, according to court documents.
Neza had been detained for about a year at the Rolling Plains facility in Haskell, about 210 miles west of Dallas, but was released after his family posted $25,000 bail last month.
His wife, Nurie, and 10-year-old son are not detained but also face deportation. The couple has a 6-year-old son who was born in the U.S. and would not face deportation.
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