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CONGRESSMAN ENGEL PROTESTS JUDGE'S RULING ON CIARAN FERRY; November 15, 2004
Monday November 15, 2004"The ruling by Judge Nottingham in Colorado that Ciaran Ferry has no case in appealing his incarceration by the Department of Homeland Security in itself a violation of due process and the basic right of people in a democracy.
"Ciaran Ferry is being denied the rights that the Supreme Court gave the detainees of Guantanimo Bay. This is a terrible wrong and one that must be overturned by a higher court. Judge Nottingham obviously has no regard for the Constitution and the rights it gives.
"Mr. Ferry entered the United States under the Visa Waiver Program following all the regulations required of him and honestly answering all the questions put to him and as the spouse of an American citizen. Nevertheless he was arrested, without a warrant, by Bureau of Inspections and Customs Enforcement agents and held in a facility usually reserved for dangerous criminals.
"Mr. Ferry argued before the Court that the DHS refusal to give him a hearing on his green card application was a denial of his rights to due process as the spouse of an alien and that he was treated in an arbitrary and capricious fashion. He also challenged DHS to prove that he was, as it asserted, a 'danger to the safety and security of the United States'.
"As a spouse of a US citizen, he should have been afforded the right of due process which should keep the government from arbitrarily deporting him.
"In the words of Jarl Anderson, Director of the Ciaran Ferry Legal Defense Fund, 'the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of fear' and is 'paving the way for executive abuse of power and individual liberty.'"