Cincinnati CityBeat Exposes DHS Mistake
Ayman Soliman Is Not a Murderer or Terrorist
Will the U.S. Government Send Hospital Chaplain to Death in Egypt, Rather Than Admit Mistakes?
CLEVELAND/CINCINNATI - Ayman Soliman is not a murderer or a terrorist. The U.S. government’s case against him is riddled with mistakes. And deporting him to Egypt — a place where he was already tortured for helping to broadcast the pro-democracy movement, and where people are still being murdered and tortured today — is a death sentence.
Yet the Department of Homeland Security continues to seek the deportation of the former Cincinnati Children’s Hospital chaplain, rather than admitting its mistakes.
“When you screw up, the right thing to do is admit you made a mistake and fix it,” said Lynn Tramonte, Executive Director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. “The U.S. government’s case against Ayman is riddled with errors, misrepresentations, and downright lies. That bizarre accusation about warrants for ‘murders in Iraq’ — a place Ayman never visited — could be a cut-and-paste error from another case. In another example, an author of the so-called ‘evidence’ used to terminate Ayman’s asylum has objected to the government’s use of her work, calling it a ‘dishonest manipulation.’ The bottom line is, ICE Attorney Cheryl Gutridge is prosecuting a sham trial against Ayman Soliman. The prosecution is becoming an embarrassment, which should end in U.S. District Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins’ court on October 7. Or, the federal government could do the right thing and end this farce now, restoring Ayman’s rightfully-earned asylum status and letting him return to his community today. It’s still not too late for the government to do the right thing.”
The latest news in Ayman’s case is detailed in Cincinnati CityBeat’s story “Welcome to the ICE Age: The Weaving of a Terrorist Narrative,” by Madeline Fening. It includes the fact that:
Ayman Soliman has never had “three outstanding warrants in Iraq for murder and terrorism related activities,” as was alleged by the U.S. government in a filing with the Cleveland Immigration Court by Cheryl Gutridge, Senior Attorney, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Exhibit J, Footnote 6).
As CityBeat reports, Ayman’s attorney Robert Ratliff said “DHS informed us that the allegation should not be construed as being applicable to Ayman.”
Soliman’s close confidant and advisor, Tala Ali, called the Iraq accusation a “monumental screw-up on behalf of DHS lawyers,” and believes they “exposed themselves in failing to delete a footnote in their filing as they copy and paste filings en masse to dragnet and target Muslims.”
This prejudicial allegation against Ayman Soliman has already appeared in several news articles, tainting his reputation despite the fact that it is patently untrue.
UCLA’s Ahilan Arulanantham, another expert, confirmed that “the government’s various terrorism claims against Soliman – a devout faith leader with no criminal record – are likely false, but they’re not surprising.” In fact, he told CityBeat, errors are frequently made because ”there are huge databases flooded with garbage.”
CityBeat also reported, ”the Iraq claim is not the first federal accusation against Soliman to be quickly debunked. It’s the third.”
Ayman’s immigration nightmare began with a big error — a sole asylum officer’s choice to review a settled decision and terminate Ayman’s carefully-reviewed, legally-obtained asylum status, without the introduction of any new information.
The officer relied on “evidence” that didn't prove what the government said it did. Two scholars they cited in this case have objected, on the record, about how the government twisted their work, Steven Brooke and Marie Vannetzel.
Vannetzel called the government’s use of her writing in Ayman’s notice of asylum termination a “dishonest manipulation of [her] text and [her] work,” indicating that it has, in fact, “an entirely different meaning” than what DHS alleges.
Background: Ayman Soliman survived torture in Egypt after assisting media outlets covering the pro-democracy movement during the Arab Spring. He came to the United States and obtained asylum through the legal process, becoming a beloved member of Cincinnati’s interfaith leadership. Community service has been a part of his life since his earliest days, when Ayman volunteered for a local charity providing medical care and clean water for his village in Egypt.
Following the asylum officer’s dangerous mistake, Ayman had to deal with the loss of his lawful immigration status and loss of employment at the renowned Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, as well as the possibility of deportation to a country where he had already been repeatedly tortured. Egypt is one of the most dangerous countries for pro-democratic journalists, to this day. The U.S. government’s false accusations against Mr. Soliman only make him more of a target for harm.
The government’s gross errors in judgment are outlined in two federal lawsuits, which were recently consolidated into one case by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey P. Hopkins, Southern District of Ohio (Western Division). Judge Hopkins also issued a preliminary injunction and set a hearing for October 7.
Ayman’s next immigration hearing is September 3 at 8am, before Immigration Judge Jennifer Riedthaler-Williams in the Cleveland Immigration Court. His lawyers have filed a new application for asylum, with hundreds of pages of supporting evidence that illustrate the deep harm that would come to him in Egypt if he is deported. At the September 3 Master Calendar hearing, scheduling and witness lists will be discussed.
Then all eyes will be on the federal court in Cincinnati on October 7, when both the federal government and the Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones will have to appear, to answer to the unlawful termination of Ayman’s grant of asylum, illegal detention, and violation of his due process rights.
Continued Tramonte, “Continuing to keep Ayman in jail and prosecute this case is cruel. The government made a mistake, but it’s still not too late to do the right thing. If Ayman is deported it will be too late, because sending him to Egypt is a death sentence. I believe the people inside our government can find it in their hearts to do the right thing, and let Ayman go back to his community in Ohio, where he belongs.”
###
