“U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo had caused Me Mental Stress and No Sleep”
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
A jailed Iraqi immigrant has sued Rep. Tom Tancredo for $5 million, saying the congressman defamed him during a controversy over so-called “catch-and-release” immigration enforcement last year.
Gavan Alkadi, 46, reportedly immigrated to the United States at age 15, but has been in legal limbo for the past several years. He faces deportation proceedings prompted by his various brushes with the law.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show he has been arrested more than 30 times in Colorado since 1981 on suspicion of offenses that include DUI and assault. Many of those charges were dismissed.
In 2002, he was sentenced to a year in jail for domestic violence and obstructing police in Boulder County.
Deportation proceedings began in 2003, but by the time Alkadi’s deportation order became final in October 2005, the new Iraqi government would not or could not approve his return.He was released in May 2006, which prompted Tancredo to send a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff — and media outlets — saying he was “shocked” that a “dangerous Iraqi national” was released despite his long criminal record.
Tancredo said it was part of a continuing “catch and release” policy by the White House, and one outlet quoted Tancredo saying he was making Alkadi the “poster child” for the issue.
Soon after Tancredo’s letter, Alkadi was re-arrested. He was sentenced last month to a year in jail in connection with an assault in Weld County.
From jail, he filed a hand-written complaint last year, demanding $5 million for defamation of character, saying Tancredo falsely accused him of being a terrorist.
“U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo had caused Me Mental Stress and No Sleep Because I am always Thinking Why and How I Became his Poaster child,” Alkadi wrote in the filing, which includes many spelling and punctuation errors.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_5446157%2C00.html