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January 23, 2005

01/23/05 - IAUC Ltr Re: Entry of Mark Thatcher To U.S.

IAUC


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LETTER TO DEPARTMENT OF STATE REGARDING ENTRY OF SIR MARK THATCHER TO THE
UNITED STATES

January 21, 2005

For Immediate Release -

U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Re: Entry of Sir Mark Thatcher to the U.S.

Dear Sirs/Madams:

The Irish American Unity Conference is concerned at reports that Sir Mark
Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has
pleaded guilty to his involvement in an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea,
and now seeks entry to the United States.

As you may be aware, Sir Mark has formally pleaded guilty to contravening
Sections 2 and 3 of South Africa's Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance
Act which prohibits the “recruitment, use or training of persons ... or
financing or engaging in mercenary activity.” He was fined the equivalent
of $500,000 and given a four-year suspended jail term. Questions had also
been asked in the U.K. Parliament several years ago over claims he had
received millions of pounds in commission from a 1985 arms sale to Saudi
Arabia.

The Washington Times reports the criminal objects of his planned coup as
follows:

“The coup would have installed an opposition leader, Severo Moto, in exile
in Portugal, as Equatorial Guinea's leader after the mercenaries killed the
president in a ‘Trojan Horse’ operation — they were to lure him and his
bodyguards to the airport with claims they had gifts aboard their plane.”

(Washington Times; Jan. 20, 2005; "Thatcher faces hurdle to U.S.")

Irish Americans are most anxious that the full rigors of our nation’s
immigration laws be employed to exclude this international criminal, coup
plotter, and gunrunner.

In particular, it would appear that Sir Mark’s guilty plea would render him
inadmissible for having committed “a crime involving moral turpitude (other
than a purely political offense) or an attempt or conspiracy to commit such
a crime,” contrary to Section 212 (a)(2)(A)(i)(I) of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (“INA”).

A waiver for this ground of inadmissibility is only available if it is
established, to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, that the admission
to the United States of such an alien “would not be contrary to the national
welfare, safety, or security of the United States.” INA § 212(h)(1)(A)(ii).

More disturbingly, it also appears that Sir Mark may be inadmissible under
the provisions prohibiting terrorists from entering the United States found
at INA § 212(a)(3)(B), for which no such waiver is available. Whereas we
could not even attempt to define who is, and who is not, a terrorist
according to the vague and amorphous definition contained in the Immigration
and Nationality Act, it must be noted that this label has been employed
extremely liberally in relation to Irish nationals, whose offenses are
diminutive in comparison to Sir Mark’s, and to the long-term detriment of
their U.S. citizen families.

Given the current proficiency with which the Department of Justice and
Department of Homeland Security exclude those aliens who have been convicted
abroad, especially those who have provided “material support” to terrorists,
we would expect Sir Mark will be given the third degree in his request for a
visa at the U.S. Embassy in either London or Frankfurt.

However, even if he successfully manages to lawfully enter the United States
pursuant to a waiver of inadmissibility, we would expect that your offices
will alert the Department of Justice and that he will be greeted on arrival
by a Joint Terrorism Task Force, interrogated and charged with one of
several Federal offenses that come to mind. We also expect, after a
pattern, that he would be detained for the entire period of his trial with
no right to bond, and separated from his U.S. family, as has been the case
with Ciaran Ferry.

Such treatment would be consistent with recent events, unless, of course,
there is one law for the rich and powerful, and one for the poor.

In any event, the IAUC will monitor this situation very carefully, and hope
that those responsible for protecting this nation from the likes of Sir Mark
Thatcher do not fail in their appointed responsibilities.

Yours truly,

Judge Andrew Somers (retired)
President
IRISH AMERICAN UNITY CONFERENCE
National Office
611 Pennsylvania Ave, SE #4150
Washington, D.C. 20003
Tel: 1-800-947-4282
Web: http://www.iauc.org


cc: United States Embassy, London
United States Embassy, Frankfurt
United States Embassy, Equatorial Guinea
John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States


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http://www.iauc.org/rel1-21-05.htm

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