Suspected Nazi guard John Demjanjuk can remain in the United States while an immigration court considers his latest appeal against extradition to Germany, US officials said.“It is a subject for the courts at this point,” said Pat Reilly, a spokeswoman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on Thursday.“When he is removable -- when he no longer has legal recourse, we will remove him.”
Demjanjuk, who changed his name from Ivan to John after emigrating to the United States in 1952, is wanted in Germany on charges of assisting in the murders of thousands of Jews at Sobibor death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.He was stripped of his US citizenship in 2008 and last month, US officials began the process of extraditing the now-stateless Demjanjuk to Germany to stand trial for crimes allegedly committed more than 60 years ago.
His lawyer won him a brief stay of deportation last week while immigration officials debated whether to reopen the Ukrainian-born former autoworker’s “removal” case. That stay expired on Wednesday, but officials said they will await the outcome of additional motions filed Tuesday before they take action.“We’ll file a response and see what happens from there,” US Department of Justice spokeswoman Laura Sweeney told AFP.