1 Alien to Stay; 2nd May Be Deported

A judge on Thursday ruled that an immigrant from Kenya, once charged with subversion, may remain in the United States, while a Palestinian student who originally faced the same charge could be deported for getting a job without government permission.

The decisions by U.S. Immigration Judge Ingrid K. Hrycenko came in the cases of Julie Mungai, 31, a Kenyan, and Amjad Obeid, 25, a Palestinian traveling on a Jordanian passport. They were among eight people arrested on Jan. 26, 1987, on subversion charges stemming from government allegations that they belonged to a Palestinian faction with a terrorist history.

Government charges were eventually changed against the two: Mungai, an accountant, was accused of working with an expired work permit, a deportable offense; and Obeid, a student at Cal State Long Beach, was charged with holding a job without approval of the immigration agency.

Obeid, however, married an American citizen shortly before his arrest. If he can prove at a July 26 proceeding that his marriage papers are in order, and the government introduces no new evidence, he could be allowed to remain.

Hrycenko ruled swiftly on the charges against Mungai, the wife of one of two lead defendants in the case still charged with subversion, Khader Hamide, 35. The ruling came without government objection when her attorney, Gilbert Lopez, told the court that her work permits were in order.

But Hrycenko and immigration attorney Peter A. Schey clashed bitterly on whether Obeid could stay in the country when Justice Department attorneys produced a witness who said he saw Obeid work at a 7-Eleven store in Artesia in 1984 and 1985.

The witness, David M. Brito Jr., 24, of South Gate, said he was suddenly asked to testify in a telephone call from an FBI agent Wednesday

He identified the agent as Frank Knight of Los Angeles, who in 1987 worked on an FBI anti-terrorism squad and helped put together the subversion case.

Brito said he had talked with Knight “twice before,” but declined to give any more details.

He testified that he had not wanted to appear, but was subpoenaed Thursday.

Brito said that in 1984 and 1985 he shopped at the 7-Eleven store in Artesia “seven days a week” and saw Obeid work there as a clerk. On Wednesday, store officials testified that Obeid was on the payroll.

Schey, who directs the National Center for Immigrants’ Rights in Los Angeles, repeatedly attempted to discover what Brito’s relationship was with the FBI. But an angry Hrycenko cut him off, declaring, “I will not allow this to be a forum on what (Brito) provided to the FBI on terrorism or the price of tea.”

At another point, an irritated Hrycenko turned to Brito and asked: “Have you ever been an informer for the FBI?” “No, I have not,” responded Brito, who works for a court research firm.

Hrycenko ruled that the government “has met its burden with clear, convincing . . . evidence” that Obeid was working without a required government permit and was deportable. In response to the judge, Schey said that should his client be deported, he had selected Algeria.