OPEN LETTER TO U.S. SENATORS CHUCK SCHUMER AND HILLARY CLINTON

Honorable U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton: The parents of Miladin Kovacevic’s victim, Bryan Steinhauer need to be told the truth; that the main reason Miladin Kovacevic is long gone and a fugitive from justice is because our mismanaged and dysfunctional federal agency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to do its job. It is possible if the alien defendant’s name would have been Jose Lopez, native and citizen of Mexico, arrested for the crime of being an illegal alien, ICE would have immediately responded. My apology for making this assertion but unfortunately, this is how ICE is currently operating. ICE, according to its website has 26 listed “leaders” – when you compare the ICE’s leadership cadre with other major federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Secret Service and others, ICE rank number one in the numbers of leaders (Senior Executive Series) managers has at its headquarters.

The ICE agency claims that "This is not a case (Miladin Kovacevic) that Immigration and Custom Enforcement was involved in at any point." May I ask you and ICE to review the following information regarding foreign student visas: http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080411washington.htm, and http://www.ice.gov/sevis/SEVISFactSheet.htm.

The truth is that from the moment Miladin Kovacevic received his foreign student visa from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the responsibility to monitor Miladin Kovacevic fell upon ICE, an agency with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Kovacevic at the time of the assault and his subsequent arrest for assaulting Bryan Steinhauser was an active student at Binghamton University, a school registered with ICE under its SEVIS program. See http://www.binghamton.edu/isss/admission/SEVIS_fee.htm. It is possible also that an official (s) at Binghamton University may be also responsible since the university has been involved under the SEVIS program with the Legacy U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS). One of the school’s responsibilities under SEVIS is to notify ICE when the foreign student is in violation of his student visa’s status. Likewise, when a foreign student violates his non-immigration student visa’s status, ICE immediately and aggressively respond accordingly.

We cannot ignore the facts in this case. This was not an average case where a regular foreign student violates the conditions of his visa’s status. This case became national and world-wide news the day Kovacevic was release from jail on June 6, 2008. ICE had a three day window to do something about him, prior to his escape from the United States on June 9, 2008. However ICE failed to do exactly what the agency is expected to do.

The name Miladin Kovacevic, the Serbian criminal fugitive and former foreign student with a non-immigrant student visa is now a well known celebrity. For some, he is a hero, for others he is a villain criminal alien from Serbia wanted by the FBI and Interpol. A Serbian student criminal fugitive, who avoided ICE’s detection, detention and arrest prior to board his international from Newark, N.J., to Frankfurt, Germany.

This Narco News report is not about the personality of Miladin Kovacevic – rather it is about our federal government’s failure to respond and to act in similar cases involving foreign students attending our U.S. schools and holding student’s visas issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In this particular case, the onus rest with ICE.

I will go over what we all know according to our mainstream media reports and Internet bloggers regarding the case of Miladin Kovacevic and why he was able to leave our country, untouched and safely while being a criminal alien fugitive.

On May 4, 2008 - Miladin Kovacevic, a 6-foot-9-inch (2.05-meter), 260-pound (118-kilogram), who was recruited to play basketball for Binghamton University in upstate New York, was arrested at a downtown Binghamton bar after beating Bryan Steinhauer near death. Steinhauer, 22, remains in critical condition and has not regained consciousness since the attack.

On June 6, 2008 - Miladin Kovacevic was released from jail when his parents posted the $100,000 bail through the Serbian consulate. As a condition of his release, Kovacevic surrendered his passport. Kovacevic was incarcerated between May 4 and June 6, 2008. Some news reports indicate that ICE was contacted prior to the release of Kovacevic. However, Narco News contacted the Broome County District Attorney’s (BCDA) office seeking comments on this case, but the BCDA did not return this writer’s calls.

As a former INS criminal investigator in the early 1980s, when our office received a call from a local county jail or police department asking for our assistance, we always responded. If the request for assistance merely required that INS officially place an “immigration hold” on the suspected criminal alien defendant, we always went to the requesting county jail and took care of business.

What we know, according to news media reports are that the BCDA office alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 9 to be on the lookout for Kovacevic at the New York-Canadian border; but instead, the federal agency called the DA's Office on June 10 to report Kovacevic fled the country through the Newark airport with temporary traveling documents.

The Narco News is learned that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the “how and why” Kovacevic was able to evade detection prior to his departure. Now we will see who carries more weight, the U.S. Attorney General or the DHS’ Secretary and her subordinate ICE’s Assistant Secretary Julie Myers. I predict that what the U.S. Department of Justice will uncover would not be pleasant news for ICE or DHS.

On June 24, 2008, the Press Connects published a news report, which reads in part:

Kovacevic had been in jail since his arrest May 4 on a felony assault charge in the beating of Steinhauer. The 22-year-old Steinhauer has not regained consciousness since the attack, police said. Steinhauer's family declined to comment Monday through their attorney, Irwin Rockman. Mollen's office alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 9 to be on the lookout for Kovacevic at the New York-Canadian border. Instead, the federal agency called the DA's Office on June 10 to report Kovacevic fled the country through the Newark airport with temporary traveling documents. At least three flights left Newark June 9 for Frankfurt, Germany, according to the Web site, flightaware.com. Airlines declined to confirm what flight Kovacevic took, citing privacy policies. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday his office is looking into how Kovacevic was able to leave the country. U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's office said Monday they had reached out to Steinhauer's family and also spoke to the U.S. State Department on the Steinhauer family's behalf. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has multiple programs to assist local law enforcement including a support center that provides timely accurate information and assistance to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on aliens suspected of criminal activity. The center operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, gathering information from various crime information databases, according to the agency's Web site. Senior Assistant District Attorney Cheryl Mancini, who made the call to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 9, did not return a telephone call Monday seeking comment.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080624/NEWS01/806240331/0/NEWS01

At least three flights left Newark June 9 for Frankfurt, Germany, according to the Web site, flightaware.com. Airlines declined to confirm what flight Kovacevic took, citing privacy policies. http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080624/NEWS01/806240331/1001/news

I hope the Airlines’ officials contacted who cited “privacy Issues” when declined to release any information on Kovacevic are compelled or dragged before a federal grand jury to answer any questions regarding this case.

Finally, I urge you to read an excellent news story entitled Ticket to an American University or Ticket to Paradise? - By Annie Jacobsen - WomensWallStreet.com - 29 May 2007 at http://www.theaviationnation.com/?p=561&akst_action=share-this. This is another example of ICE’s failure to responds to a request for assistance from another federal law enforcement agency at an international airport involving a suspected terrorist. Please also review TSA Initiates Witch Hunt Against Air Marshal Whistleblowers at http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=5vYWX9yblpI

References:

Beating defendant's U.S. exit confirmed - Official: American Customs had no role in case http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/NEWS01/806180333/1001

How giant hoops star pulled a fast one on United States Customs http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/06/26/2008-06-26_how_giant_hoops_star_pulled_a_fast_one_o.html

Improvements to Student and Exchange Visitor Program announced today in Manhattan
Proposed increase in fees will support enhancements to Homeland Security's critical system

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080411washington.htm