The New York Times today chronicles the story of a Nepalese man who spent three months in solitary confinement before being deported largely because he accidentally videotaped a building in Queens that contained an FBI office. He was arrested and then detained because he had overstayed his tourist visa. Soon he was in solitary confinement. Three months later he was deported. Even after FBI investigators confirmed that the man was harmless, post 9/11 rules by the Justice Department made it near impossible for the FBI to clear the man of wrongdoing. One FBI investigator even reached out to the Legal Aid Society of New York for help in dealing with the case. But it was to no avail. In order to free the man, the FBI would have been forced to secure signatures from high-level anti-terrorism officials in Washington. When that didn’t happen he was deported.
Nepalese Man Deported For Videotaping FBI Office
HeadlineJun 30, 2004