PHOENIX, 21 January 2006 — A Pakistani doctor living in Arizona has been linked to what federal authorities allege is an Islamic terrorist organization and may never be allowed to return to the United States, his attorney said.
Nadeem Hassan and his wife, Amber, were detained at New York’s Kennedy International Airport by US Customs officials on Wednesday because their applications for a green card — which allows permanent residence — had been denied days earlier.
The couple’s attorney, Eric Bjotvedt, said Thursday they were given an option of either being detained in the state without a hearing or returning to Saudi Arabia, where they traveled for the Islamic hajj pilgrimage. The US Citizen and Immigration Services revoked privileges for the Hassans to work and travel inside the United States based on Nadeem Hassan’s ties to Jamaat al Tabligh, an orthodox Islamic missionary group.
In rejecting the Hassans’ applications, Homeland Security described JT as “a terrorist organization that provides material support to members of a designated terrorist organization — Al-Qaeda and to an undesignated terrorist organization — the Taleban.” The rejection papers, obtained by The Arizona Republic and confirmed by Bjotvedt, say: “You are found to have engaged in terrorist activity by providing material support to an undesignated terrorist organization.” Hassan, 41, who is originally from Pakistan, has lived in the United States since 1987 and has been in Arizona for nearly a decade, Bjotvedt said. He was currently working at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix as a gastroenterologist, health officials said.
Since the Hassans’ residency was still being considered, the couple obtained advanced permission to travel to Saudi Arabia. However, Bjotvedt said that since their green cards were rejected while they were out of the country, the Hassans have lost their rights to appeal the decision before a deportation judge.
“If they deny your application while you’re outside the US, you lose everything. It destroyed his opportunity to review the allegations against him and appeal them,” Bjotvedt said.
Bjotvedt added that he had warned Hassan that by leaving the country for the religious pilgrimage, the couple risked a decision being made while they were gone.
“They made an informed choice, but at the same time, (federal officials) didn’t have to do what they did,” Bjotvedt said.
Bjotvedt said Nadeem Hassan was one of many Muslims interviewed by the FBI following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
According to the immigration papers The Republic obtained, the FBI never outright called JT a terrorist group but suggested it was vulnerable to being used by Islamic extremists. Because of that, the FBI said it was “unable to rule out the possibility that Hassan poses a threat to national security.” An FBI spokesman in Phoenix declined to comment on the case and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Bjotvedt said. “He now has no chance to explain his side of the story.”
