ICE explains why they can't deport illegal immigrant - WAFF-TV: News, Weather and Sports for Huntsville, AL

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents said their hands are tied when it comes to Sofyan Eldani, a habitual criminal who has been arrested 35 times in Alabama.

Eldani is in the U.S. illegally, but ICE cannot deport him.

Eldani claimed his country is Palestine, which the U.S. does not recognize as a sovereign country.

"The problem is these people may have been born in Israel, and Palestine is not an accepted country," said Dagmar Rick, a Birmingham-area immigration attorney. "It's not a sovereign country so he may have been born in Israel and claims he's Israeli. And Israel says no he's born in Palestine, but Palestine is not a country so what do you do?"

ICE agents have even tried deporting Eldani to Egypt, Kuwait and Israel, but all three refuse to take him.

"ICE made a travel document request to Egypt," ICE spokesperson Temple Black said. "Mr. Eldani made travel document requests to Egypt, Israel and Kuwait. When authorities in those countries declined to provide the appropriate travel documents to facilitate Mr. Eldani's removal, he was released from ICE custody due to a ruling in Zadvydas vs. Davis. The Zadvydas decision generally allows ICE to detain aliens who are subject to final order of removal only for a period of time deemed reasonably necessary to effectuate their removal."

That makes Eldani a stateless citizen, stuck in America.

"It's our problem," Rick said. "I call them virtual citizens because you can't get rid of them."

ICE has no criminal jurisdiction, only civil. Agents cannot detain Eldani for his criminal record. They can only hold him, with some restrictions, for his illegal status.

"For civil reasons you cannot detain somebody for life," said Rick. "You are very restricted. If they can't find a country they can keep him for 180 days maximum."

"ICE makes every possible effort to remove all final order aliens with a reasonable period," said Black. "After that period, if the actual removal cannot occur with the reasonably foreseeable future, ICE must release the alien."

Since no country is willing to take him, the burden falls on the state of Alabama.

"The criminal justice system can throw him in jail; nobody is preventing that," said Rick.

Currently Eldani is behind bars on a $200,000 bond.

As far as Congress stepping in and changing the law, Rick said they could but it probably would not be worth their time since there are so few cases dealing with this issue.

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