Imagine you come to this country on a student visa 22 years ago, work hard, try to obey the laws, marry a U.S. citizen, pay taxes on your cash income, be a government witness in a criminal trial, have multiple work permits issued to you, keep working with the government on the paperwork necessary for citizenship. Then only months after your latest work permit is issued and soon after your latest paperwork is returned for being sent to the wrong address the INS show up at your home at 6:00 a.m. and arrest you in front of 2 of your children. They then send you to a prison 1200 miles away and hold you for 5 months while trying to deport you except that no country recognizes you as a citizen.
Elias Faddoul doesn't need to imagine. It's his life.
From 1994 Court of Appeals
Faddoul is a thirty-three year old man of Palestinian ancestry who was born and last resided in Saudi Arabia. His parents fled Palestine after the creation of Israel in 1948, first settling in Lebanon, then moving to find work in Saudi Arabia, where Faddoul was born and raised. Despite his place of birth, Faddoul was not eligible to receive Saudi citizenship because Saudi law grants citizenship solely on the basis on ancestry. As a person of Palestinian ancestry, Faddoul was unable to obtain a Saudi passport but was allowed to travel with a Lebanese travel document known as a "laissez-passe".[1] Faddoul first visited the United States in 1979 and thereafter returned to Saudi Arabia periodically to renew his Saudi reentry visa. In 1984, Faddoul entered the United States as a nonimmigrant student to study aviation and electronics, but he ceased attending classes in May 1985. During this time, he formed a relationship with a U.S. citizen and was married in October 1984. Because he planned to apply for permanent legal status, he stopped returning to Saudi Arabia and allowed his reentry visa to expire. The marriage, however, eventually failed.
He's 45 years old now as that decision is 12 years old. He also remarried at some point (or they are wrong about the marriage failing I'm not sure which) to a naturalized U.S. citizen and had 3 kids, currently aged 11, 9 and 2. It should be noted that his family has said he originally quit school to work after his father, who was providing financial support, passed away.
In 1986 the INS started deportation proceedings against Elias Faddoul. They issued an order for voluntary departure even though he had no way to leave (no passport, no citizenship or reentry visa) There was a fire which destroyed the immigration papers so they held another hearing. The second judge upheld the ruling against him in 1989 but gave him the right to apply for asylum which he did. They denied his request and he appealed. He lost his appeal in 1994.
It's important to remember that Faddoul was not a citizen of any country, had no passport and no reentry visa to get back into Saudi Arabia. In other words, he had no where to go. Both he and the government knew that voluntary departure was not an option. He continued to work in the U.S., even paid taxes on income his employers didn't declare, and he obtained work visas from the government. He made no effort to hide from the government. In fact, all of his actions were focused on becoming a legal citizen.
In 2004 he was a government witness testifying at the trial of his former employers.
From the Orlando Sentinel
Although there was discussion during the trial that Faddoul at one time was suspected of wrongdoing, evidence showed he did nothing illegal. He had received money without taxes withheld, but he reported all the money and paid all his taxes.
It was at this trial in 2004 that Faddoul learned that a deportation order had been issued against him. It must have been a surprise for Faddoul as the governement was issuing him work permits. Notice that there were often years between paperwork and decisions early in the process. Since Faddoul was getting work permits from the government, it would have been easy for him to assume that his status was still in debate.
Orlando Sentinel
Still, Faddoul was granted work permits, including one in 2000 -- the same year, he later learned, the deportation order became final. The work permit was renewed in June 2006, just months before his arrest.
Remember he testified in court, where they knew his status and did not take him into custody. They also knew at this time that he could not be deported as no place would take him.
Someone posted this on the message board for the Orlando Sentinel story:
Federal Court in front of the Honorable Judge John Antoon II in Case No. 6:02-CR-171-ORL-28DAB on October 27, 2004 in which Mr. Faddoul was a witness. I will quote:"THE COURT: So when he leaves here, is he a subject to being taken into custody?
Mr. BUECHNER: He could be, but it’s not one of our priorities because he’s stateless and right now we have a budget crunch.
THE COURT: That was my next question. He got a family here. Where would you send him?
Mr. BUECHNER: Well, the Supreme Court recently ruled if we did take him into custody and couldn’t get a travel document for him within 90 days and he is not threat to society, we release him on the streets until INS could obtain a travel document, so we really don’t want to take him into custody because I don’t think we can get a travel document within 90 days, so it just cost the taxpayers a lot of money for really no return."
I couldn't find an official record of that online. But whether or not that transcript is accurate he wasn't taken into custody at that point. He then contacted INS to try again to get his status changed.
Orlando Sentinel
In fact, when Faddoul learned during the trial that there was a deportation order against him, he contacted immigration officials and, with the help of a retired lawyer, filed paperwork asking that his case be reopened.
Last year, however, the paperwork was returned with a notation that it had been sent to the wrong office. Not long after that, Faddoul was arrested.
After his arrest Faddoul was sent to a prison 1,200 miles from his home, his wife and his 3 children. He has been held there for almost 5 months. He can not be deported as no country will take him and he can not get citizenship through his marriage with the deportation order hanging over his head. He's stuck in prison and will stay there as long as the government wants to keep him that way.