EOIR To Decide Michael Correa’s Fate

By Abdoulie John 

Michael Correa, a former member of Yahya Jammeh’s killer squad, will know his fate in the coming days as the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is set to file a motion about his nonimmigrant status before competent court of jurisdiction.

“Aliens processed for removal may receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR),” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Public Affairs Officer, Alethea Smock, told this medium in response to an information request sent on Friday to her.

Michael Correa was arrested last Wednesday by ICE officers in Aurora, Colorado, and has since been in their custody “pending the disposition of his immigration proceedings.” He was mentioned by members of the first batch of Junglers who testified before the ongoing Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). They reportedly carried out a number of extra-judicial killings done at the direction of Gambia’s former longtime ruler.

The Denver-based ICE spokeswoman also confided to this reporter that EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice, and is separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE. But she was quick to add: “Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.”

Yahya Jammeh’s two-decade long rule was punctuated by gross human rights abuses that were mainly carried out by his hit squad. In fine, Alethea Smock seized the opportunity to emphasize that Correa, a citizen of The Gambia, legally entered the United States Dec. 16, 2016 while indicating that “did not depart in accordance with the terms of his nonimmigrant status.”

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