Help the Kambos
This Web site was created by friends of Sam Kambo, whose wife
and four children need financial help while Sam is detained in jail
because the U.S. government has accused him of overstaying his
work visa and wants to send him back to Sierra Leone.

The situation
The Kambo family has been enduring an immigration nightmare for almost a year. Samuel Kambo, who has lived in the United States since 1994 and has four children who are American citizens, has been detained by the United States Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) since October 2006 – based on an overstay of his visa, which had expired about a month earlier.

Although DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) San Antonio District Office did not charge Mr. Kambo in the deportation proceeding of participating in extrajudicial killings, it has refused repeatedly to release him on bond as twice ordered by the Immigration Judge, in a separate bond proceeding based on the second and third accounts of “unnamed sources” who “are convinced” Mr. Kambo, simply by virtue of his affiliation with the National Provisional Ruling Council (the “NPRC”), participated in extrajudicial killings in December 1992, when he was Deputy Minister of Energy within the provisional government of Sierra Leone pending democratic elections.

Those extrajudicial killings were investigated by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (the “TRC”), which was funded and backed by the multi-national community, including the U.S., and the United Nations Human Rights Organization, investigated all alleged crimes against humanity during this time period. The Report of the TRC clearly attributed these extrajudicial killings to individuals other than Mr. Kambo. Mr. Kambo has never been associated with those acts by any organization other than ICE’s San Antonio District Office.

After a two-day trial on May 30 and 31, 2007 a Federal Immigration Judge ruled, in a detailed opinion dated June 29, 2007, that there was no credible evidence to support ICE’s allegations that Mr. Kambo had participated in the December 1992 extrajudicial killings. In the same ruling, the Immigration Judge granted Mr. Kambo status as a permanent resident of the U.S. (i.e., ordered ICE to issue him a green card). The sole independent “witness” brought forth by ICE at trial was a Sierra Leone army deserter who testified that he came to the U.S. to testify against Mr. Kambo only after being promised by ICE that everything he said would be confidential and never get back to Africa. The witness could not remember his rank in the military and responded on cross-examination that he had come to testify because he wanted to see justice served. The witness’s explanation on cross-examination for why he did not testify before the TRC during the several years of its hearings was that he had deserted the military to go to Liberia, the country with which Sierra Leone was at war. Curiously, the witness’s name appears on a victims list presumably of individuals not in the military at the time in an appendix to the TRC Report.

ICE continues to take the position that it bases its refusal to release Mr. Kambo on bond pending its appeal on the allegations that were found to not be supported by any credible evidence. ICE also bases its refusal to release Mr. Kambo on bond on its allegation that he is a flight risk and a danger to the community. ICE’s San Antonio District Office has failed to explain why the Immigration Service had previously approved Mr. Kambo’s stay in the U.S. if these allegations are valid.

ICE also has failed to explain why it waited until Mr. Kambo voluntarily attended an interview win ICE offices for the purpose of obtaining his green card to take him into detention. If Mr. Kambo poses such a risk, why did ICE approve and endorse Mr. Kambo’s stay in the U.S. from approximately August 1993 thorough September 2006? Why did ICE not take him into detention earlier if Mr. Kambo is a danger to the community? Mr. Kambo has four children who are U.S. citizens as well as a professional job waiting for him upon his release. He has vigorously fought to obtain permanent resident status, and clearly intends to stay in the U.S. ICE's assertion that Mr. Kambo, who by all accounts has been a model member of the community and an example of the type of immigrant who has made the U.S. great, is a flight risk is disingenuous.

It seems transparent that ICE’s motive in refusing to release Mr. Kambo is in using the detention as a strategy to get Mr. Kambo and his family to voluntarily capitulate and return to Sierra Leone of their own volition. It’s motive appears to be purely punitive in nature. In a country founded on principles of fairness and due process, ICE’s measures and tactics fly in the face of the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution.

A closer look at the legal proceedings in Mr. Kambo’s case pose broader concerns. The depths to which ICE has resorted in detaining Mr. Kambo would shock most Americans. ICE’s actions bear little resemblance to what our veterans have fought and given their lives, or what soldiers currently at war are fighting to protect. It is important that light be shed on what ICE does within its own system of justice. In refusing to release Mr. Kambo on bond, ICE has invoked extraordinary means that it argues are part of the Patriot Act. Meanwhile, his wife and four children suffer from his absence – both emotionally and financially. Their friends at work and at their children’s schools have raised money to help sustain the family and to help offset the massive cost of Sam’s legal defense while the Government refuses to release him.

The Kambo’s do not deserve this kind of treatment. This family is exactly the kind that we should attract to the United States. Sam was a patriot in Sierra Leone and risked his life not only to fight against the rebels and armed forces from neighboring states, but also to participate in a bloodless coup to evict a thoroughly corrupt government that was not taking care of the basic needs of its citizens. After helping to get the country moving in a positive direction, Mr. Kambo chose to leave Sierra Leone and applied for a student visa to come to the United States. He attend the University of Texas, where he received a degree in electrical engineering and a Masters of Business Administration. The ICE speculated that Sam was involved in atrocities that occurred after the 1992 coup, and took actions to deny his application for permanent residency status. In addition, they have taken steps that are very unusual for a case like this to keep Sam in prison since October 2006. Until his surprise arrest, he worked as an expert in the purchase and sale of electric energy and natural gas for the Lower Colorado River Authority, a utility owned by the State of Texas. He is a recognized leader at the organization and is greatly loved and respected.

It is a shame that the U.S. Government continues to hold Sam, refusing even to allow him to post bond while the Government continues its endless appeals of the decisions exonerating Sam. It is a shame that his children go without a breadwinner and father. It is a shame that a man educated by the State of Texas, who holds special skills that benefit the people of Texas, cannot work on their behalf.

In a recent letter, Sam said: “Indeed, the glacial pace of the process has been baffling, frustrating and painful. But thanks to the unbelievable support that I have received…you’ve made this unbearable process somewhat bearable….My only hope is that this issue is resolved very soon because my family and I crave for my freedom at this moment more than anything else.”

If you would like to help the Kambos, please donate online via Paypal at www.helpsamkambo.com