25.11.03
**E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.
IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
-----------------------------
Subject: McAllister Home Surrounded, Support is Needed
Date: November 24, 2003
BULLETIN FROM:
THE LAW OFFICES OF SMITH DORNAN & SHEA PC
WWW.SDS-LAW.COM E-MAIL: EDORNAN@SDS-LAW.COM
355 LEXINGTON AVENUE, SEVENTEENTH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
(212) 370-5316 TELEFACSIMILE (212) 370-7174
November 24, 2003
McALLISTER FAMILY UNDER SIEGE
The Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), under the
authority of Attorney General John Ashcroft, defying a ruling from the United
States Court of Appeals, has laid siege to the home of Bernadette McAllister
and her children, Sean and Nicola, and has launched a manhunt for her
husband Malachy.
On Wednesday, November 19, 2003, Bernadette and her children were
making preparations to celebrate Thanksgiving in the New Jersey town of
Wallington. That was until Bernadette received the shock decision
from the Board of Immigration Appeals that she and her children were to be
stripped of their hard-won status of political asylum and deported
within 30 days back to Belfast. Worse still, her husband Malachy was
in grave danger of being shackled and deported immediately.
As the McAllisters raced to file their appeals and seek the
protection of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, around 20 DHS
agents surrounded their home in the early hours of Friday morning, and two
agents barged their way into her home looking for her husband. The
last time armed government agents descended on the McAllister home was in
1988 in Belfast when a pro-British Loyalist death-squad came to kill
Malachy and launched a sustained gun attack on her children and their
grandmother. A federal judge found, as a result, that Bernadette and
the children had suffered "severe persecution" and granted
them political asylum in the United States.
The Federal agents who raided her home refused to identify themselves
and still have not produced a warrant for her husband's arrest.
Nevertheless they threatened to arrest Bernadette and her children
for "obstruction of justice" when she attempted to serve them with
a court-stamped copy of her motion seeking a stay of the detention and
removal of her husband.
Despite the fact that the Court of Appeals immediately issued a
temporary stay of removal pending its decision on this case, the DHS
remains staked out at the McAllister home and continues, unlawfully,
to treat Malachy McAllister as a "fugitive" from the very removal
order which the Court has stayed! More disturbingly, the DHS continues to
threaten Bernadette with criminal arrest for "obstruction of
justice." The irony is glaring. The only people in this case obstructing the
wheels of justice are John Ashcroft's DHS agents.
The McAllister family's case enjoys the widespread support of many in
the Irish-American community and its media, among groups such as the
Irish American Unity Conference and the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
as well as the support of many Congressional leaders. However, the
family remains in grave danger and we must keep the pressure on until the
siege is lifted.
Call Attorney General John Ashcroft and demand to know why Malachy
McAllister is being treated as a fugitive, and why the DHS are
staking out the McAllister home in the run-up to Thanksgiving, when their
appeal has been accepted by a United States Court of Appeals. Call your
Senator and Representative, and ask that they sign on to a letter
from Stephen R. Rothman (D, NJ; 9th District) instructing the DHS to allow
Malachy McAllister to return home without fear of arrest and
detention.
DEMAND THAT THE SIEGE BE LIFTED NOW!
Hon. John Ashcroft
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Tel: (202) 353-1555
If you wish to send a donation to help defray the legal costs in what
may be an extensive legal battle, please make checks payable to Smith
Dornan & Shea PC, mark as "McAllister Legal Defense Fund",
and send to:
Smith Dornan & Shea PC
355 Lexington Avenue
17th Floor
New York, NY 10017
WWW.SDS-LAW.COM
Phone: (212) 370-5316
Fax: (212) 370-7174
Contact: Eamonn Dornan, Esq., edornan@sds-law.com, (212) 370-5316
edornan@sds-law.com Smith Dornan & Shea Web Site
IRISH FREEDOM COMMITTEE® NEWSLIST
-----------------------------
Subject: McAllister Home Surrounded, Support is Needed
Date: November 24, 2003
BULLETIN FROM:
THE LAW OFFICES OF SMITH DORNAN & SHEA PC
WWW.SDS-LAW.COM E-MAIL: EDORNAN@SDS-LAW.COM
355 LEXINGTON AVENUE, SEVENTEENTH FLOOR, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10017
(212) 370-5316 TELEFACSIMILE (212) 370-7174
November 24, 2003
McALLISTER FAMILY UNDER SIEGE
The Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"), under the
authority of Attorney General John Ashcroft, defying a ruling from the United
States Court of Appeals, has laid siege to the home of Bernadette McAllister
and her children, Sean and Nicola, and has launched a manhunt for her
husband Malachy.
On Wednesday, November 19, 2003, Bernadette and her children were
making preparations to celebrate Thanksgiving in the New Jersey town of
Wallington. That was until Bernadette received the shock decision
from the Board of Immigration Appeals that she and her children were to be
stripped of their hard-won status of political asylum and deported
within 30 days back to Belfast. Worse still, her husband Malachy was
in grave danger of being shackled and deported immediately.
As the McAllisters raced to file their appeals and seek the
protection of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, around 20 DHS
agents surrounded their home in the early hours of Friday morning, and two
agents barged their way into her home looking for her husband. The
last time armed government agents descended on the McAllister home was in
1988 in Belfast when a pro-British Loyalist death-squad came to kill
Malachy and launched a sustained gun attack on her children and their
grandmother. A federal judge found, as a result, that Bernadette and
the children had suffered "severe persecution" and granted
them political asylum in the United States.
The Federal agents who raided her home refused to identify themselves
and still have not produced a warrant for her husband's arrest.
Nevertheless they threatened to arrest Bernadette and her children
for "obstruction of justice" when she attempted to serve them with
a court-stamped copy of her motion seeking a stay of the detention and
removal of her husband.
Despite the fact that the Court of Appeals immediately issued a
temporary stay of removal pending its decision on this case, the DHS
remains staked out at the McAllister home and continues, unlawfully,
to treat Malachy McAllister as a "fugitive" from the very removal
order which the Court has stayed! More disturbingly, the DHS continues to
threaten Bernadette with criminal arrest for "obstruction of
justice." The irony is glaring. The only people in this case obstructing the
wheels of justice are John Ashcroft's DHS agents.
The McAllister family's case enjoys the widespread support of many in
the Irish-American community and its media, among groups such as the
Irish American Unity Conference and the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
as well as the support of many Congressional leaders. However, the
family remains in grave danger and we must keep the pressure on until the
siege is lifted.
Call Attorney General John Ashcroft and demand to know why Malachy
McAllister is being treated as a fugitive, and why the DHS are
staking out the McAllister home in the run-up to Thanksgiving, when their
appeal has been accepted by a United States Court of Appeals. Call your
Senator and Representative, and ask that they sign on to a letter
from Stephen R. Rothman (D, NJ; 9th District) instructing the DHS to allow
Malachy McAllister to return home without fear of arrest and
detention.
DEMAND THAT THE SIEGE BE LIFTED NOW!
Hon. John Ashcroft
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Tel: (202) 353-1555
If you wish to send a donation to help defray the legal costs in what
may be an extensive legal battle, please make checks payable to Smith
Dornan & Shea PC, mark as "McAllister Legal Defense Fund",
and send to:
Smith Dornan & Shea PC
355 Lexington Avenue
17th Floor
New York, NY 10017
WWW.SDS-LAW.COM
Phone: (212) 370-5316
Fax: (212) 370-7174
Contact: Eamonn Dornan, Esq., edornan@sds-law.com, (212) 370-5316
edornan@sds-law.com Smith Dornan & Shea Web Site
