Jawara

BACKGROUND

In December 2000, “Haji Jawara” executed Immigration and Naturalization Service form I-589, an application for 11356 UNITED STATES v. JAWARA asylum and withholding of removal. In this application, he claimed, among other things, to be a native of Sierra Leone and a member of the Maraka tribe who had suffered imprison- ment and witnessed the killing of his parents at the hands of rebels in Sierra Leone. The asylum application was prepared by a man who called himself “Mohamed Ali.” Copies of two identity documents were attached to the asylum application: a Republic of Sierra Leone identity card and a “Death Certifi- cate” purportedly issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Although the “Death Certificate” was apparently submitted to certify Haji Jawara’s birth in Sierra Leone, the certificate, in fact, stated that Haji Jawara “died 4th July 1979 at 6:45 p.m. at Kono Government Hospi- tal” in Sierra Leone.

Three years later, Darrick Smalley, a senior special agent with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, began investi- gating the activities of “Mohamed Jawara,” as part of a larger investigation involving several individuals. During…