By Allan Lengel

A Philly immigration judge has ordered the deportation of an 85-year-old man who served as an SS guard at three Nazi concentration camps during World War II, the Justice Department announced.

U.S. Immigration Judge Charles Honeyman ordered that Anton Geiser, of Sharon, Pa., be sent to Austria, where he immigrated from after the war. The written court ruling noted that Geiser, through his attorney,  “generally admitted all of the factual allegations” in the government’s case, the Justice Department said.

By Allan Lengel

Suspected NY car bomber Faisal Shahzad who had been holed up in an undisclosed location talking to investigators without an attorney since his arrest May 3, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Manhattan shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The New York Times  reported that Shahzad, 30, was wearing gray shirt and gray pants, and did not enter a plea. He only said “yes” to a question about his strapped finances, when then allowed U .S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV to appoint an attorney,  federal defender Julia Gatto, who was sitting at his side, the Times reported.

Gatto asked the judge to make sure he is served food certified as halal, which adheres to Islamic dietary laws.  Authorities said he will now be housed in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

He faces charges of  attempting terrorism by attempting to kill people; attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction; using a destructive device in connection with an attempted crime of violence; transporting explosives; and attempting to destroy property with fire and explosives. He faces up to life in prison, but could get a break on a sentence for freely cooperating, legal experts have said.

Whether his level of cooperation will change now that he has an attorney is unclear.  Some other terror suspects including the underwear bomber in Detroit continued to cooperate after getting attorneys.

By Allan Lengel

WASHINGTON — After a protracted legal battle, President Barack Obama’s Kenyan aunt has been granted asylum, the Associated Press reported.

A U.S. Immigration judge in Boston mailed the decision on Friday, AP reported. The aunt, Zeituni Onyango, is the half sister of Obama’s later father. A person must prove that they will be persecuted if they return to their homeland.

AP reported that the reason for her request was never made public. But her lawyer had previously said she applied for asylum because of the violence in that country.

She first moved to the U.S. in 2000 on a valid visa, and was ordered deported in 2004 after he request for asylum was rejected.  But she remained in the country and was living in public housing in Boston. The New York Times reported that she first sought asylum in 2002.

The legal battle became fodder for anti-Obama forces.

Ambassador Husain Haqqani/embassy photo

WASHINGTON — The three Pakistani men rounded up last week as part of the ongoing probe into the New York car bomb incident don’t appear to have links to terrorism, the Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. told the Boston Globe.

Ambassador Husain Haqqani of Washington, whose statement was based on briefings from Pakistani officials, said it appears the men were taken into custody during questioning because of immigration violations, the Globe reported.

“For all we know, there will be no connection at the end of it,” Haqqani told the Globe in a telephone interview. “I’m a little critical of law enforcement who ran to the press first, because you can actually destroy people’s lives. So far, there is nothing that implies anything of a terrorist nature.”

After the FBI raids in three different states last week, authorities said the men may have provided money to the suspected car bomber Faisal Shahzad, but it was unclear if they knew what he was up to.

The Globe reported that the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Offices in New York and Boston declined comment.

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