Should criminals get freedom by leaving their country?

InMay 2009, suspectedNaziwar criminal John Demjanjuk, 89, was deported from theUnited States to Germany where hewas charged with the murder of 29,000 Jews.

He had lived in theUnited States for decades and had even become aU. S. citizen. Neither circumstance could protect him from his crimes as aNazi guard. Other formerNazis have been deported from theUnited States and countries in Europe and South America. Their crimes against humanity are not covered by any statute of limitations.

Nowanother criminal iswalking the streets of South Florida and already has hisU. S. residency. He is former Cuban Col. CresencioMarino Rivero, who used to be the man in charge of all political prisons in the province of Villa Clara, Cuba.

Mind you, there is an enormous difference between the millions of Jews killed by theNazis during theHolocaust and the thousands who have died in Cuba’s dungeons. This is not a question of numbers. It is a question of justice to determine if criminals can escape prosecution by leaving the country where theywere responsible for the abuse of innocent civilians.

The horrible thing aboutMarino Rivero is he admits what his jobwas in Cuba. He admits he did not tell the truth about his job or party affiliation in the papers he sought to enter to theUnited States and also omitted them from the papers required for him to become aU. S. resident alien.

The case againstMarino Rivero, one that seeks to revoke his residency and to deport him, nowis being handled on the legal front byWilfredo Allen, an immigration lawyer, and on the political front by Republican CongressmenMario DíazBalart and Ileana Ross- Lehtinen.

In both cases they point toMarino Rivero’s television interviews where he said his job in Cuba through1996 had been to “supervise and monitor the judicial performance of chiefs and officials of the penal system in the province of Villa Clara.” And that he had been a member of Cuba’s Communist Party.

He also admitted to both Channel 41 andTVMarti that he had not informed U. S. officials of his position with the Cuban government. Both the document requesting a visa to theUnited States and the document for people seeking legal residence in this country require applicants respond to questionnaires where they are asked whether he or she had ever been a member of the Communist Party. In this case, Rivero admitted he did not mention his government and party affiliations, nor did he include his job in charge of the jails in the province of Villa Clara.

The two South Florida congressmen are taking it to the highest levels of the administration. In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to Attorney General EricHolder Jr., and to secretary ofHomeland Security JanetNapolitano, they request the “immediate expulsion from the United States of CresencioMarino Rivero.”

Allen, the long- time immigration lawyer, is going after the same thing, but he is going directly to the local officials in charge of this case.

Allen contends the document requesting a visa has a question about the applicant’s prior links to the Communist Party. The document where he seeks legalU. S. residency has at least five questions that, if answered, would have disqualifiedMarino Rivero fromobtaining his legal residency. In order to have obtained his legal papers, either the immigration officer neglected to do his job, orMarino Rivero lied. The record already shows that he lied. Marino Rivero also has said those former prisoners and dissidents who have accused them of brutality are “liars.”

Allen is going directly to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents whowould have been in charge of this interview. The case will then percolate up through the bureaucracy.

These cases take time. But for justice to prevail, CresencioMarino Rivero should be deported back to Cuba.