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Undocumented Immigrant Who Helped Police Solve Murder Now Facing Deportation
ThinkProgress / News Analysis
Published: Wednesday 11 January 2012
New Jersey police and prosecutors have pleaded Chehoud’s case, telling federal immigration officials that he was so critical to solving the case that he should be allowed to stay, not punished for coming forward.
An undocumented immigrant who came forward to help police solve a high-profile murder is being rewarded for his bravery by being deported.
Police informant Charbel Chehoud finds himself behind bars and may be sent back to Lebanon as early as tomorrow:
Currently being held at the Essex County Jail, Chaoud says federal immigration authorities ignored recommendations by New Jersey police and prosecutors that he be allowed to stay in the United States.
Chaoud, who fears for his life if forced to return to Lebanon, has resisted five previous attempts at deportation. In July 2011 his brother was killed in a suspicious auto-pedestrian accident in Beirut. [...]
According to a recent article in the NY Daily News, the murder of Michael Augulis in 1999 would have gone unsolved if it weren’t for Chehoud’s aid to law enforcement officials. Originally called an accidental drowning in Sandy Hook Bay, Chehoud told police that two men in a fishing boat had thrown Augulis overboard, knowing he couldn’t swim. New Jersey State Police later arrested the two men, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Chehoud’s fiancee, an American citizen from Jersey City, is leading a last-ditch effort to help him remain in the U.S. Her campaign on Change.org has already received over 6,000 signatures.
She points out that if her fiancee were released from detention, they would be free to marry, which would allow Chehoud to apply for legal permanent resident status and remain in the country.
New Jersey police and prosecutors have pleaded Chehoud’s case, telling federal immigration officials that he was so critical to solving the case that he should be allowed to stay, not punished for coming forward.
Undocumented immigrants often avoid reporting crimes against themselves or others precisely because they fear exposing themselves to law enforcement officials. Chehoud’s treatment is likely to solidify that impression and discourage the undocumented from seeking out help when they need it. Local police officials have testified that the deportation program Secure Communities has eroded the trust between them and immigrant communities and jeopardized public safety.
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43 comments on "Undocumented Immigrant Who Helped Police Solve Murder Now Facing Deportation"
zegqfjal
January 12, 2012 10:33pm
Chinese women are now taking 3rd trimester vacations in the U.S. so they can get dual citizenship for their children.
Some middle easterners have change their surnames to hispanic and then snuck across the border to gain access.
Our childen are inundated by gangs and drugs along with many other problems.
DO NOT GIVE THIS COUTRY AWAY FOR A FEW CROCODILE TEARS.
ARM YOURSELVES.
The rest of the world can see what our melting pot mentality is doing to this country. The clash of cultures has led to a greater disrespect for our legal system and greed has over taken common sense.
Recently a muslim in Texas built a mosque next to pig farm and then asked the pig farmer to leave. Guess, what, illegal immigration is the mosque builder and U.S. Citizens are the pig farmer. Would you move?
Urban legends, half-truths, and outright lies. More of the hatemongering and fear perpetuated by too much time listening to talk radio and Faux news celebutantes and not enough time spent READING. And by the way, if you are Caucasian YOU are a product of the melting pot you so totally despise and disparage. What a crock.
January 12, 2012 10:32pm
The Chinese own so much of the U.S. that they are letting the hispanics fight the immigration reform war while they get ready to move in, legally, and take what ever they want. GET READY. WE WILL BE THEIR SOURCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES OVER THE NEXT CENTURY AND YOU WILL DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD.
January 12, 2012 10:29pm
The Immigration and Reform Act of 1986
Bush's Immigration Reform Attempt
Obama's Dream Act
Obama suing states for interpreting inconsistently enforce Federal Immigration Laws.
Obama blocking the deportation of 400,000 lawbreaking illegal aliens that various levels of government have spent time and money pursuing, caring for, incarcerating and processing.
The Sate of California, rewarding lawbreaking illegal immigrants with the 'Dream Act' while punishing U.S. Citizens with 'Proposition 8'.
WITHOUT EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL U.S. CITIZENS - WE DO NOT HAVE DEMOCRACY.
WITHOUT A LEGAL SYSTEM THAT IS ENFORCED AND RESPECTED WE DO NOT HAVE TRUE GOVERNMENT.
WITHOUT LEADERS WHO PASS LAWS THAT ARE PROPERLY ENFORCED WE ARE A SHIP WITHOUT A CAPTAIN.
WITH OUR MILITARY STATIONED ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH 30 MILLION INVADERS IN THIS COUNTRY, WE CAN ONLY LOOK TO THE TALE OF THE 'TROJAN HORSE'.
OUR LEADERS, THROUGH THEIR OWN INACTION HAVE CREATED A SECOND CLASS OF PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO ARE VICTIMIZED FROM THE DAY THEY DECIDE TO COME HERE UNTIL THE DAY THEY GO HOME, ALWAYS LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS AND ALWAYS RESENTING THOSE WHO HAVE IT SO GOOD.
ILLEGAL is against the law. If you do not respect our laws, then by all means, open up all of the prisons and let all of the U.S. Citizens out, no one should be held responsible for their actions and every man should carry a gun. Here comes chaos. Was Jared Loughner a pyscho or a patriot? It does not matter. All he did was break the law.
If you are FOR illegal immigration, then please post your home address, so they can come to your home and stay, or steal or what ever they want.
Cheap Labor is never cheap.
From an American Taxpayer to American Traitors
Google: 'George Will and the 14th Amendment'
January 12, 2012 10:11am
Welcome Charbel Chehoud, to the United States of fascism. Perhaps you didn't give an appropriate "seig heil," to the incredibly competent federal immigration authority Nazi's. You have some nerve, coming to this country and trying to do rightful, conscientious, good citizen actions!
January 12, 2012 9:57pm
Unconditional1 - Charbel needs you to make a financial donation to his lawbreaking cause. Please give generously.
January 12, 2012 3:25am
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Huh?!
January 11, 2012 9:20pm
Man, the power rush from working for the 'feds' is absolutely intoxicating; to be able to so thoroughly screw with someone else's life even though, deep down, you know better. Or maybe it's the lobotomy so many people seem to have had nowadays, from cops to congressmen, from senators to civil servants.
January 12, 2012 9:59pm
Ragged - Charbel needs you to make a financial donation to his lawbreaking cause and maybe a place to stay and some of your furniture too. Please give generously. OR don't give, he does not need your permission, stealing is only against the law. Right? JUST POST YOUR HOME ADDRESS.
January 11, 2012 4:17pm
Hell man! There are millions of US citizens that don't have the courage or concern to due their civic duty and report serious crimes. They should be the ones getting deported, not some one who did the right thing. I believe the man passed his citizenship test.
January 12, 2012 10:00pm
We are at max population here. If you will consider trading with him and moving to his country, we can make an acception.
"rolls eyes in back of head". WHATEVER!
January 11, 2012 4:00pm
Deport these fake-watch-pushing spammers!
Here's a thought: I bet this Lebanese illegal immigrant is a Christian, fleeing from Hezbo-allah, and THAT is why caliph Ohamad's ICE gang are out to deport him: because he's NOT a moslem! If he were an illegal moslem terrorist immigrant, they'd promptly send him to one of their many CAIR sponsored and Ohamad-approved "Moslems of America" terrorist training camps in the USA!
January 12, 2012 10:07pm
The Chinese own so much of the U.S. that they are letting the hispanics fight the immigration reform war while they get ready to move in, legally, and take what ever they want. GET READY. WE WILL BE THEIR SOURCE OF NATURAL RESOURCES OVER THE NEXT CENTURY AND YOU WILL DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD.
January 12, 2012 10:02pm
Agreed with the watch makers. Send them to a 3rd world country.
Obama has waffled on immigration when he should be enforcing the laws on the book - The Immigration and Reform Act of 1986.
January 12, 2012 10:31am
what an ignorant A$$ you are sault.
Get real. He may be a Muslim or he may be Christian, but YOU ARE A RASCIST! NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT! Obama is no Muslim. He has continued most of Bush's policies. Guantanamo is still open and the war in Afghanistan has been escalated by the guy that you call Muslim.
January 11, 2012 2:58pm
Many of the post that I'm reading call this guy an "Immigrant." That's an insult to the millions of immigrants that waited and played by the rules. This person is an ILLEGAL ALIEN! Is there something about that that anyone doesn't understand? This guy was undoubtedly a hero. I acknowledge that. But where are the articles about illegal aliens that rob, sell drugs, get arrested, and are NOT in danger of being deported?
January 12, 2012 9:56pm
Ross - True that
Legally or not he is still an "immigrant" (according to the English language). He did not have to come forward but he preferred to listen to his heart and like you said, became a hero. We desperately need heroes these days! More so than "legal aliens".
January 11, 2012 4:42pm
"Illegal alien" is a media hype term. An immigrant is a person who goes from one place to another, legal or not. Charbel is officially an "undocumented immigrant." Every country in the world has undocumented immigrants who come mostly for work, escape tyranny or to shop. A few come to commit crimes. It's only a serious problem for people who hate them.
January 11, 2012 7:14pm
Go to www.michaelcutler.net and learn the truth.
The term illegal ALIEN is used in almost every nation on Earth. It is not racist. It is a legal term.
Sure he helped the police. Anyone...no matter what their nationality should help the police. That STILL does not give him citizenship.
January 11, 2012 2:50pm
While we can sympathize with the plight of immigrants, liberals have put the U.S. on an unsustainable path. For decades we have excepted millions of undocumented people and allowed them free education and emergency room care etc. We are in the middle of a depression. What happens when several other countries figure out that if they sneak into the country we will not enforce the law? Environmental and financial collapse follows. Get real. We have enough poor suffering citizens now. This is a cruel fairy tale.
"Excepted vs. Accepted" - you are correct for decades we have EXCEPTED millions of undocumented aliens. However I am sure YOU meant to say ACCEPTED. Lest you forget, gainfully employed aliens pay taxes too. If not on their menial incomes, they pay sales taxes on everything they buy from food to clothing to cars, and property taxes too - directly or indirectly by paying their rent ea h month.
Get off your "holier than thou" high horse before you fall off and hurt your sorry self.
January 12, 2012 7:25am
@KEMI - Prejudice makes life a lot easier, because a prejudiced person doesn't need to worry about getting the facts right before forming an opinion. You might want to check your facts before going off on the "unsustainable path" established by liberals in regard to immigration. Since 1986 when Ronald Reagan (Republican, conservative, patriarch of the modern conservative ideology) became the Father of amnesty programs for illegal immigrants (estimated 2.8 million illegal immigrants received amnesty), Republicans have controlled the White House for 14 of the intervening 25 years. That means more conservative Republican Presidents have supported the free education and benefits than Democrats. One of the largest periods of estimated illegal immigration occurred in early 2004 after George Bush announced plans to establish a de facto amnesty program. By the time he withdrew that plan, the number of illegal immigrants had already drastically increased.
However, I'm with Reagan on this issue. This is a quote from an NPR program on immigration amnesty as a Reagan legacy:
"Reagan 'knew that it was not right for people to be abused,' Simpson [Republican Senator, Wyoming] says. 'Anybody who's here illegally is going to be abused in some way, either financially [or] physically. They have no rights.'
Peter Robinson, a former Reagan speechwriter, agrees. 'It was in Ronald Reagan's bones — it was part of his understanding of America — that the country was fundamentally open to those who wanted to join us here.'
Lol, this is not something the 'blame-stream' media machine will tell their flocks of mindless followers. So they will not believe it. Fox snooze and the radio talk show personalities would rather die than tell the truth!
January 11, 2012 7:20pm
Kemi...I hate to tell you this..but there are people from every nation of the world sneaking across our borders. Go to the TV channel 2 in Atlanta and look it up. They already know they can sneak in here without any problem and bleed the taxpayers dry. In SC, the year 2010, the SC taxpayers paid out over $330,000,000 to them. We could have been able to feed and house our OWN poor with that money. Instead, illegal aliens get away with breaking even more laws such as illegal IDs, no car insurance, killing innocent citizens with vehicles, leaving people dying on the side of the road... and they are housed, fed, and taken care of medically while the CITIZENS of South Carolina go homeless, hungry and ill.
Thank you liberal lawmakers. May you one day be in the shoes of those South Carolinians who are suffering. That is IF those South Carolinians HAVE shoes.
January 11, 2012 4:54pm
If his life is truly in danger if he returns to Lebanon, he qualifies for political asylum. But he would have been more believable if he had applied before he got popped. The reason he is illegal also contributes to his case. Did he sneak in or did he overstay a visa? If he had a visa which expired, he would be documented. Does Nation know?
January 11, 2012 4:47pm
It's corporate money that pays politicians to make weak and unenforcable immigration laws, along with underfunding enforcement agencies to keep a "disposable work force" that can't sue for rights violations. The liberals only want to protect oppressed people from any walk of life. Ask McDonald's corporate team why they don't demand all stores to use E-verify. Ask your congress puppet why they don't make E-verfy mandatory for all employees. Playing the media sponsored liberal-conservative dance only distracts from the reality. Wake up.
January 11, 2012 2:49pm
Is there no compassion in our justice system for those who are trying to be contributing to our way of life. I know that there are laws and we need to respect them. However, I would suggest that there are, perhaps, extenuating circumstances in this situation. For the most wealthy there are always loop holes or ways around the laws that limit their ability to make another buck. Can we not find a way to provide documentation for those who help our society? Our Immigration laws are not enforced across the nation - except when it comes to the attention of ICE that someone is undocumented. Should we not provide a way to find out who is and who is not documented (everyone! not just some) and then look at our immigration laws, requirements, and fix them so that they are being enforced equally. If deportation is what is demanded, then do so for all undocumented under the current law. If there is to be justice and compassion, and someone provides value to society, then find a way to consider that in the decision to deport. Just my humble opinion.
January 12, 2012 9:46pm
Times 30 million.
Lets move them all to your town.
Then we will see if you change your mind.
How about we just leave them where they are and mind our own business, hmmm? It's simple. Just quit sticking your nose in everyone else's business and focus on, oh I don't know, learning how to READ, and THINK for yourself.
PROBLEM SOLVED. CRISIS AVERTED (that means "stopped")!
January 11, 2012 2:09pm
People in jail are actually allowed to get married. I have read about several instances. Has he tried Allen E Kaye, immigration attorney in New York City. He has been able to help many people stay here who have overstayed their visitor's visa once they get caught.
January 12, 2012 9:53pm
Chinese women are now taking 3rd trimester vacations in the U.S. so they can get dual citizenship for their children.
Some middle easterners have change their surnames to hispanic and then snuck across the border to gain access.
Our childen are inundated by gangs and drugs along with many other problems.
DO NOT GIVE THIS COUTRY AWAY FOR A FEW CROCODILE TEARS.
ARM YOURSELVES.
The rest of the world can see what our melting pot mentality is doing to this country. The clash of cultures has led to a greater disrespect for our legal system and greed has over taken common sense.
Recently a muslim in Texas built a mosque next to pig farm and then asked the pig farmer to leave. Guess, what, illegal immigration is the mosque builder and U.S. Citizens are the pig farmer. Would you move?
January 12, 2012 9:55pm
By all means. marry an illegal alien in jail. If you are married already, then divorce, so you can be part of the problem.
January 11, 2012 1:55pm
I sincerely hope the immigrant in question manages to stay in the country. He is experiencing two forms of callousness here: that of the authorities and that of the two seedy watch salesmen who will obviously stoop low to ply their pathetic trade.
January 12, 2012 9:55pm
Ross. You should definitely prove you statement, by emptying your accounts and providing fiancial assitsance.
January 11, 2012 1:15pm
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