Judge Orders Saudi Princess Deported

[peejay 327]

Judge Orders Saudi Princess Deported

The Associated Press

Friday, December 22, 2006; 1:00 AM

BOSTON -- A Saudi Arabian princess accused of breaking U.S. immigration laws by locking up her domestics' passports and forcing them to work for low pay was ordered to be deported, prosecutors said Thursday.

Hana F. Al Jader of Winchester was sentenced to two years of probation, the first six months of which must be served in home confinement, after which she'll be deported to Saudi Arabia, prosecutors said.

An after hours call to Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office, was not returned. It was unclear if the six months' home confinement Al Jader received included time she has already served while on bail in home confinement.

U.S. District Judge Reginald J. Lindsay also sentenced Al Jader, 40, to pay $206,000 in restitution to three of her former domestic servants, pay a $40,000 fine, and perform 100 hours of community service.

In September, Al Jader pleaded guilty to two counts of visa fraud for lying on immigration forms, and two counts of harboring an alien for keeping the two women at her house though she knew their visas had expired.

In a deal with prosecutors, six counts of forced labor were dropped in exchange for guilty pleas on the other charges.

Prosecutors alleged that Al Jader forced two domestic servants from Indonesia to work long hours, while holding their passports in a safe.

Al Jader submitted fraudulent forms to the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia guaranteeing the women would work eight hours daily for $1,500 a month, they charged.

The women were actually paid just $300 per month after arriving in February 2003 to cook, clean and care for Al Jader's disabled husband and their children.

A phone message left after hours Thursday to Al Jader's attorney, Joseph Balliro Sr., was not returned.

Al Jader and her husband, Prince Mohamed Bin Turki Al Saud, have lived in Winchester and Arlington since the mid-1990s, when the couple came to the United States to obtain medical and rehabilitation treatment for injuries the prince suffered in an auto accident.

Lindsay also sentenced Al Jader to forfeit a second residence in Arlington.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...6122200018.html

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Badly applied; she should not have been given the two years home confinement but only the 10 days allotted to expired temp-workers--in other words, an IMMEDIATE deportation!

[peejay 327]

Actually she was convicted of visa violations rather than visa fraud. (My typo error.) However, the fraud she commited was more toward the deceptions and abuse she commited against the Indonesian domestics. Cheating them out of their wages cost the princess $206,000. She deserved much harsher punishment.

Fortunately for the Indonesians...the Saudi princess abused them in the USA rather than in Saudi Arabia. Abusing foreign servants is well documented there (and in the region in other Arab countries) with little recourse for the victims.

I had an American co-worker that met and eventually married a Filipino woman while working in Kuwait. The stories she told me of the abuse she (and her friends) had to endure working as a hotel maid were shocking. Same story...passport confiscated and abuse without recourse in Kuwait. Sad, but true.

[almaty 19]

what? no lashes for her.

Edited December 29, 2006 by almaty

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Actually she was convicted of visa violations rather than visa fraud. (My typo error.) However, the fraud she commited was more toward the deceptions and abuse she commited against the Indonesian domestics. Cheating them out of their wages cost the princess $206,000. She deserved much harsher punishment.

I agree; the only options the US gov should have considered:

• IMMEDIATE deportation (and lifetime ban) with (non-compensaed) confiscation of all her properties in US
  
• hard time for both al-Jader and bin-Turki, with (non compensated) confiscation of all their US properties, followed by deportation and lifetime ban
  

Fortunately for the Indonesians...the Saudi princess abused them in the USA rather than in Saudi Arabia. Abusing foreign servants is well documented there (and in the region in other Arab countries) with little recourse for the victims.

I had an American co-worker that met and eventually married a Filipino woman while working in Kuwait. The stories she told me of the abuse she (and her friends) had to endure working as a hotel maid were shocking. Same story...passport confiscated and abuse without recourse in Kuwait. Sad, but true.

Even for other tempworkers, the passport is confiscated and the tempworker (who CANNOT immigrate there to settle) has to get an exit permit to leave--an absolutely crazy system that made working in these countries anathema for me.

[peezey 0]

I haven't gone through the visa process at all, so this might be a dumb question, and I'm sure you'll tell me if it is, but why is she being deported if none of her immigration documents are fraudulent? I think she certainly should pay these home workers and do a ####### load of community service, preferably in the home of someone with a lot of money, but why is she being deported? And why does she forfeit the Arlington property (unless this is to be sold to pay the fines)?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I haven't gone through the visa process at all, so this might be a dumb question, and I'm sure you'll tell me if it is, but why is she being deported if none of her immigration documents are fraudulent? I think she certainly should pay these home workers and do a ####### load of community service, preferably in the home of someone with a lot of money, but why is she being deported? And why does she forfeit the Arlington property (unless this is to be sold to pay the fines)?

There are certain criminal acts for which immigrants CAN be deported--and USCIS deemed these as such.

[peejay 327]

I haven't gone through the visa process at all, so this might be a dumb question, and I'm sure you'll tell me if it is, but why is she being deported if none of her immigration documents are fraudulent? I think she certainly should pay these home workers and do a ####### load of community service, preferably in the home of someone with a lot of money, but why is she being deported? And why does she forfeit the Arlington property (unless this is to be sold to pay the fines)?

As I stated above...it was a typo error. I meant to type "violations" instead of "fraud".

But the truth is that she took advantage of these Indonesians in violation of US law. And she is a deportable alien.

[mawilson 2,133]

Ah.... visa fraud, not VISA fraud. Thought it was about credit cards - LOL

[Sinergy 3]

Ah.... visa fraud, not VISA fraud. Thought it was about credit cards - LOL

[sparkofcreation 0]

And why does she forfeit the Arlington property (unless this is to be sold to pay the fines)?

Probably it's been determined that the property was either used to commit the crimes (I once heard of a counterfeiter who had to forefeit a pair of pink-handled scissors and a yellow plastic ruler, along with other office supplies) or was bought with the proceeds of them.

Crimes for which non-citizens *must* be deported include all violent felonies, all drug crimes except simple possession for personal use, all immigration-related crimes, and crimes of "moral turpitude." A non-citizen *can* be deported for any crime at all.

Edited December 29, 2006 by sparkofcreation

[Girona40 0]

And why does she forfeit the Arlington property (unless this is to be sold to pay the fines)?

Probably it's been determined that the property was either used to commit the crimes (I once heard of a counterfeiter who had to forefeit a pair of pink-handled scissors and a yellow plastic ruler, along with other office supplies) or was bought with the proceeds of them.

Crimes for which non-citizens *must* be deported include all violent felonies, all drug crimes except simple possession for personal use, all immigration-related crimes, and crimes of "moral turpitude." A non-citizen *can* be deported for any crime at all.

A non-citizen can be deported when no crime has been committed, according to what they are doing to my son!

[zyggy 9]

Actually she was convicted of visa violations rather than visa fraud. (My typo error.) However, the fraud she commited was more toward the deceptions and abuse she commited against the Indonesian domestics. Cheating them out of their wages cost the princess $206,000. She deserved much harsher punishment.

I agree; the only options the US gov should have considered:

• IMMEDIATE deportation (and lifetime ban) with (non-compensaed) confiscation of all her properties in US
  
• hard time for both al-Jader and bin-Turki, with (non compensated) confiscation of all their US properties, followed by deportation and lifetime ban
  

Fortunately for the Indonesians...the Saudi princess abused them in the USA rather than in Saudi Arabia. Abusing foreign servants is well documented there (and in the region in other Arab countries) with little recourse for the victims.

I had an American co-worker that met and eventually married a Filipino woman while working in Kuwait. The stories she told me of the abuse she (and her friends) had to endure working as a hotel maid were shocking. Same story...passport confiscated and abuse without recourse in Kuwait. Sad, but true.

Even for other tempworkers, the passport is confiscated and the tempworker (who CANNOT immigrate there to settle) has to get an exit permit to leave--an absolutely crazy system that made working in these countries anathema for me.

Yeah.. our firm sent a guy out to Saudi Arabia to take a look at a pipeline that ehy were having problems with. What was supposed to be a 1 week job, became a 8 week job because they started sending him around the country to look at other problems. When our company complained they stated that they would not give him an exit visa until they felt he was finished. We lost business because we couldn't get the guy out of there... It took a lot of complaining to the our Sentaors and the State Dept to get some sort of resolution...

Suffice it to say, our company will never work with the Saudis again.

Edited December 31, 2006 by zyggy