4th Circuit stops Uighers from entering US
posted at 10:45 am on October 9, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Two days ago, Judge Ricardo Urbina demanded that the Bush administration produce seventeen Chinese Uighers captured in terrorist training camps seven years in his courtroom on Friday, announcing his intention to release them in Washington DC. Urbina then refused to offer a stay for the purposes of an appeal and warned the Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau not to enforce immigration law by blocking suspected terrorists from entering the country. Fortunately, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency injunction blocking Urbina’s decision to import terrorits into the nation’s capital:
A group of Chinese Muslims set to be freed into the U.S. this week from Guantanamo Bay found their freedom stymied yet again after a simple government plea: What’s a couple more weeks or so in jail after nearly seven years?
That in essence was the Bush administration’s argument to a federal appeals court in a 19-page emergency request that maintained there would be only “minimal harms” if the detainees were to stay at Guantanamo a while longer.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit agreed, halting the 17 men’s release for at least another week to give the government more time to make arguments in the case.
The appeals court set a deadline of next Thursday for additional filings, when it will be left up to the judges to decide how quickly to act — and in whose favor.
Let’s recap the situation. Our armed forces capture seventeen Uighers in terrorist training camps far from home in Afghanistan. They have received training in al-Qaeda tactics — exactly the kind of people we want to keep out of our country while AQ wages war on the West. We’d like to get them out of Gitmo after having derived what intelligence we can from them, but no one seems terribly interested in taking al-Qaeda terrorists into their countr, either. The Chinese want them, but we’re afraid the terrorists will be mistreated by Beijing, which is suppressing a Uigher insurgency at the moment.
What solution does our brilliant judiciary reach? Let them live in the nation’s capital, the very place al-Qaeda trains its recruits to destroy! What a great idea!
The 4th Circuit has given the Bush administration another week to make its arguments to the entire 19-judge panel. Hopefully, the majority of them show a little more sense than Urbina did, but I’m not entirely optimistic. The appellate courts have shown a desire to run this war as a collective commander-in-chief rather than to follow the laws passed by Congress in dealing with unlawful combatants, who are supposed to have less protection than POWs, not more.
Send them back to the Chinese. They want these detainees returned to them. Sign a compact that promises no torture, declare it sufficient, and put them on a plane to Beijing. Problem solved.
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Let them be mistreated! Let the Chinese government “do the jobs that Americans don’t want to do.”
rmgraha on October 9, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Does a federal judge have jurisdiction in this matter? What powers do they have to enforce their edicts? What can happen if they are ignored? this is a prime example of why there should be judicial term limits.
Tommy_G on October 9, 2008 at 10:50 AM
:
Glad to see a Virginia-area federal circuit court use its heads. Privately, however, McCain could have had a field-day about Supreme Court appointments and other federal judicial appointments if the feds were required to release these guys into suburban McLean, Virginia. I bet Virginia would have turned 75% red in a matter of hours.
BuckeyeSam on October 9, 2008 at 10:50 AM
By all means, we should be reaching out to other governments in the spirit of friendship.
Let’s put a big pink bow on these poor dears and ship them over to our Chinese friends.
‘Bout time they took something toxic off of our hands.
NoDonkey on October 9, 2008 at 10:50 AM
“if the feds were required to release these guys into suburban McLean, Virginia. I bet Virginia would have turned 75% red in a matter of hours.”
If the feds released these guys onto the Beltway at rush hour, the streets would turn red and that would be a good thing.
NoDonkey on October 9, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Urbina + Tar + Feathers = Justice Served
ronsfi on October 9, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Agreed. Who gives a rat’s behind about them. Oops - other than Libtards that is.
DerKrieger on October 9, 2008 at 10:52 AM
How soon can ACORN sign these guys up to vote for Obama?
“Vote Obama or die”, takes on a literal meaning.
NoDonkey on October 9, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Urbina should be dis-barred and stripped off the bench for misconduct of American lives concerning Terrorists.
The Chinese should be sent back to their “home land” where ever that may be, we don’t need them or want them here.
Urbina is a stupid stupid man. Why can’t we charge him?
upinak on October 9, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Why hasn’t Urbina offered let them stay at his house? Gee whiz, he’s so concerned about them, he should be willing to go the extra mile.
AubieJon on October 9, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Where is the push to impeachment Urbina? This idiocy really must be stopped. Confidence in our institutions is not unlimited (as if anyone really needs to be told that, at this point). The judiciary must start to understand what country they serve.
progressoverpeace on October 9, 2008 at 11:00 AM
And let Joe Biden negotiate the compact. We know how much he cares about human rights, and how sincere he is. If he’s in charge of the negotiations with the Commies, we can be sure the detainees will be “properly” taken care of.
BTW, is it the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that issued the injunction, or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (as it says in the cited article)? Because the two courts are not the same.
AZCoyote on October 9, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Hopefully Acorn can get them their absentee ballots in time.
Obama needs these votes…….
Hening on October 9, 2008 at 11:02 AM
I think the 4th Circuit, long known as Conservative, is 50/50 and Dems have blocked Bush’s appointments to it. Obama will swing it to the Left
jp on October 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM
Line them all up for a photo-op with Bill Ayers with the caption: “COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AT THEIR FINEST”
Rovin on October 9, 2008 at 11:05 AM
At the risk of sounding callous, I don’t give a damn if they’re tortured, beheaded or thrown off the tallest building in China.
RedWinged Blackbird on October 9, 2008 at 11:05 AM
…I certainly hope that no anthrax or chemical weapons cases come up in Urbina’s court….
…Vietnam, won on the ground and lost on the nightly news…the War on Terror…won on the ground, lost in the courts….
…time to crank up the impeachment machine…then again, like Alcee Hastings, they’ll just end up in Congress….
Puritan1648 on October 9, 2008 at 11:06 AM
Hear, hear.
progressoverpeace on October 9, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Wouldn’t it be fun having Odipshit appointing two or three SCOTUS justices? Joy.
Bishop on October 9, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Ridiculous. So, a judge is trying to order the government to let some terrorists become illegal immigrants? Brilliant.
CP on October 9, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Funny, I haven’t heard anything about this on Yahoo News. Here are all the headline stories:
Nope, nothing about terrorists being released into the US. I’m sure it has nothing to do with not wanting to scare voters a month before the presidential election.
rbj on October 9, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Funny, I haven’t heard anything about this on Yahoo News. Here are all the headline stories:
Nope, nothing about terrorists being released into the US. I’m sure it has nothing to do with not wanting to scare voters a month before the presidential election.
rbj on October 9, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Stupid question: Can a single judge legally block a federal agency from enforcing the law of the land?
DarkCurrent on October 9, 2008 at 11:14 AM
What I disliked was the swarmy comment that what’s another week to the Bush Administration when they’ve been in prison for 7 years.
They’re Chinese Muslims…deport them to their Country of origin…and it’s not the US. We’ve got enough Chinese in the Country (apparently) who are undermining our national security.
jatfla on October 9, 2008 at 11:16 AM
+1
But get the Chinese to sign a letter, first. ;-)
Right_of_Attila on October 9, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Good catch; I think you’re right. I think the prisoners hearing was taken to Urbino in a federal district court in DC. Logically, the DC circuit, which has its own circuit, would have jurisdiction over any appeal rather than the 4th circuit.
On another note, I hit the link to the earlier Hot Air post on Urbino’s initial ruling, and I skimmed the WaPo article linked in that post (no mention which appeals court has jurisdiction over the appeal). I found this tidbit.
Maybe legislators can multitask, but I’d prefer that legislators consider the economy rather than campaigning and advocating for these guys. I suspect that each of these legislators is from a district of voters falling all over themselves to return them to Congress. But, here in Ohio, I say reason 1,000,001 to vote McCain-Palin.
BuckeyeSam on October 9, 2008 at 11:19 AM
Ah hell, let them come. Maybe after they kill a few hundred people, somebody in this sick society will muster up the balls to run these left wing, liberal judges out of office.
rplat on October 9, 2008 at 11:20 AM
The tallest building in China is just a 15 minute walk from where I live. I could see most of the drop from home. Maybe I should set up a web cam!
DarkCurrent on October 9, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Well, one statement by paul006 found to be wrong…and we are working on two.
unclesmrgol on October 9, 2008 at 11:22 AM
Somebody type up a letter that says they are a bunch of 16 year old female gymnasts. That seems to work every time.
pedestrian on October 9, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Urbina was a Bill Clinton appointee. Bill Clinton was (supposedly) a moderate. Obama is no Bill Clinton.
His appointments will be much worse than Urbina. CHANGE (for the worse).
Abby Adams on October 9, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Holy crap people the whole Nation of Iceland is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy… holy crapola….
TheBigOldDog on October 9, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Wasn’t Obama talking a while ago about what a great place China is and that businesses are going to locate there because it’s so great?
Well, I say send them back without any agreement and let the world know in no uncertain terms exactly what kind of place China still is. You can put lipstick (capitalism) on a pig (totalitarian rule), but it’s still a pig.
Kafir on October 9, 2008 at 11:27 AM
My precious daughter works and lives independently in DC because of a disability where she can’t drive and needs mass transit. These guys are trained terrorists! There are two choices:
1) Let Biden negotiate with the Chicoms…it’s his specialty. Then, with a clear conscience - Send. Them. Home.
2) Let them stay in the safety and comfort of Club Gitmo.
What absolute unadulterated lunacy! I’m furious.
marybel on October 9, 2008 at 11:28 AM
At least there’s a respite in the insanity that comes out of liberal courts. This is exactly the situation that was predicted by conservatives after Boumedianne, but pooh poohed by libtard members of various blogs. Well the chickens of Boumedienne have come home to roost. I believe that we should immediately give section 8 housing to those 17 ‘families’ of Uighers already in the Nation’s Capital, because obviously they need more space. Here’s an idea, I’ve already suggested half in jest, but now appears more useful: Give them Section 8 to House them in the Supreme Court Building in Wash. DC and allow the 17 families to receive such monies, and as a result, the Justices can observe first hand their harmlessness.
I cannot believe the madness of Justice Kennedy and of this District Court Judge. Insane in the Membrane is an understatement.
eaglewingz08 on October 9, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Glad to see this was an important debate topic the other night.
JammieWearingFool on October 9, 2008 at 11:31 AM
That’s capitalism for you–win some and lose some. I just hope that all of these countries in the same situation as Iceland do not turn to economic socialism. My fear is that by fixing the short-term problem, we will create an ever larger one.
m064404 on October 9, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Sooo… let me get this straight…
Its OK for the President, and all our Olympic athletes to go to China for a photo op…
But NOT OK to send their own citizens back to their country?
Color me… confused….
Romeo13 on October 9, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Thanks to the American judiciary, terrorist are being given their ‘right’ to continue murdering Americans while the Americans are given the ‘right’ to die at their hands.
With little concern about what the terrorist could due if the courts set them free on America’s streets, the courts convoluted way of thinking believe that justice has been served because the United States has no right to incarcerate terrorist murders.
Now, the courts can pat themselves on the back for a job well done, and tell the American people “your safety is of no concern to us and your on your own!”
pocomoco on October 9, 2008 at 11:35 AM
This is just the application of liberal jurisprudence to an internatinal problem. Recall how many times liberal judges like Urbina release violent criminals into the population who then go on to rape and murder innocent citizens. Urbina now wants to release unlawful combatants into the population where perhaps they will conduct a suicide attack against Washingtonians. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Urbina gets his way and a member of his family is killed in a terrorist attack perpetrated by one of these innocent terrorists.
jerryofva on October 9, 2008 at 11:37 AM
C’mon rbj—-I’m sure you missed one?
Rovin on October 9, 2008 at 11:38 AM
That’s the problem as I understand it - Iceland was run as one big hedge fund and is going under. The Gov doesn’t have the money to even bail it out. Their sovereign debt is about to, or has been, (I missed it) downgraded… the whole country is on the edge of going under…yikes…
TheBigOldDog on October 9, 2008 at 11:39 AM
TheBigOldDog on October 9, 2008 at 11:39 AM
Yes awful, I’m crying on the inside. Iceland’s financial hedonism was worse than ours and they took very few steps to create something useful with that tide of cash. Now they will be back where they started, an island nation with very few opportunities and very little industry.
Bishop on October 9, 2008 at 11:42 AM
RULE OF THUMB:
No matter what part of a country’s social structure gets in trouble, you can be sure that liberals were involved.
pocomoco on October 9, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Huh…
It wasn’t so long ago that terrorist groups hijacked planes and conducted other similar acts in order to demand that their brethren were freed… to their own country of origin.
Fast forward to present day and our own judges feel compelled to demand the same thing of the President, except they are now supposed to reside without documentation, skill or justification in the US.
And people also want to put a friend to terrorists, felons and support of radical groups that have been under investigation and indicted for multiple counts fraud in the White House.
Yup… I have officially seen it all now. Someone please shoot me.
Damiano on October 9, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Ed, do you really not know the difference between the 4th and DC Circuits?
someone on October 9, 2008 at 11:49 AM
I must have read a different story than you did. The UK press reported that the 17 men fled Afghanistan for Pakistan when the post 9-11 bombs started falling. Pakistan turned them in to us. (Probably for the bounty.)
I thought I read that they’ve been cleared of all a terrorist connection.
I also read that China would take them back, but the implication was that they would be killed in China.
angelat0763 on October 9, 2008 at 11:49 AM
And where the hell do you get the idea that this is en banc?
someone on October 9, 2008 at 11:50 AM
You are of course correct, and the stay was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which has jurisdiction over D.C. federal district courts.
A copy of the court’s stay is here. You can see it comes from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
For whatever reason, Ed has the 4th Circuit — or 4th District as he referred to it in his original post — stuck in his head and he won’t get it out. This is probably a sign that he should be given a job in mainstream media.
paul006 on October 9, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Maybe we could buy it at a good discount
DarkCurrent on October 9, 2008 at 11:52 AM
This isn’t China.
mycowardice on October 9, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Come on now… thats just plain mean…
Romeo13 on October 9, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Oh, by the way, friend of the terrorists, Barack Obama, may be in a position to replace up to five judges on the Supreme Court. Think about and make sure your undecided or on the fence towards Obama friends understand that a vote for Obama means more of nonsense like this.
grdred944 on October 9, 2008 at 11:56 AM
(re-do, tyops, sorry)
Thanks to the American judiciary, terrorist are being given their ‘right’ to continue murdering Americans while the Americans are given the ‘right’ to die at their hands.
With little concern about what the terrorist could do if the courts set them free on America’s streets, the courts convoluted way of thinking believe that justice has been served because the United States has no right to incarcerate terrorist murderers.
Now, the court can pat themselves on the back for a job well done, and tell the American people “your safety is of no concern to us, and your on your own!”
pocomoco on October 9, 2008 at 11:56 AM
They weren’t the terrorists, i thought they were. OOps.
Fuquay Steve on October 9, 2008 at 11:59 AM
You gan buy GM today for what it was worth in 1929!!!!! The market cap in 1929 was about $4B it’s now below that…. holy snitzack!
TheBigOldDog on October 9, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Tarring and feathering is a proud American tradition for dealing with idiot traitors like Urbina.
It’s not practiced in China as far as I know. But it would be amusing to see him tarred, feathered and pushed off the tallest building in China together with the terrorists. I promise to upload the video!
DarkCurrent on October 9, 2008 at 12:03 PM
That’s an excellent question, because three-judge panels can’t grant en banc hearings, and of course the panel’s order makes no mention of an en banc hearing.
Meanwhile, here’s some interesting background from SCOTUSBlog: Lawyers for the detainees had sought to pick the three judges who would hear their case, namely judges who have “already shown skepticism toward the government’s handling of Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay.” The court of appeals denied that request.
paul006 on October 9, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Hey, they could become Geraldo’s houseguests. He was pushing for Guantanamo to be closed anyway…
RMCS_USN on October 9, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Hell yeah, give ‘em to the ChiComs.
Sir Andrew on October 9, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Hell, that sounds like a solution, not a problem..
DaveC on October 9, 2008 at 12:14 PM
past copies of that compact to their the detainees chest as they are being lined up to be shot by a firing squad..
That will keep them safe in China.
DaveC on October 9, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Done.
Richard Romano on October 9, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Surely we can spare this judge for a couple of years, so he can go to China with these parolees and monitor them.
NellE on October 9, 2008 at 12:48 PM
This decision will cost American lives
Thus wrote the brilliant Justice Antonin Scalia in his dissent to the Boumediene decision of the Supreme Court.
In case you have not been following the bouncing ball, the looselugnut libs of the Court concluded for the very first time in American history, that unlawful alien combatants captured on the battlefield by US troops and held by the military as prisoners outside the US are entitled to petition domestic federal courts in the US for relief using our habeas rights as US citizens.
Honestly, rather than make captures on the battlefield, the troops might well very reasonably decide that the better practice is to just shoot them all dead if they are just going to be released free into the US.
Fortunately, the DC Court of Appeals has stayed the order. But it’s only a matter of time before the libruls are going to make damn certain that Scalia was right.
Krumhorn on October 9, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Nice codespeak. Chinese Uighers is codespeak for Chinese Muslims.
awake on October 9, 2008 at 1:49 PM
I think we should take them back to China. Just drop them off a 20,000 ft and wish them well.
JP1986UM on October 9, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Uh, why do we care if they get tortured - or is it just me?
Awilson on October 9, 2008 at 3:32 PM
from Wikipedia entry for Judge Ricardo Urbina:
Shocker. Not.
bofh on October 9, 2008 at 4:30 PM
Now thats wisdom if I’ve ever seen it. They’re terrorists!!! Who cares what fate they have in store. Just pass the buck and chalk up under the liberals cultural relativism
Rattl3r on October 9, 2008 at 7:46 PM