Beloved local celebrity arrested by ICE

Karim Daoud is famous for his BE KIND approach to life

Photo by Dave Norton. www.davenortonphoto.com

Everyone loves Karim.

This is not an exaggeration.

He’s well-known in his local community in New Jersey. He’s been working at a couple of restaurants, and people often request that he be their server because he’s fun, funny, and remembers things about their families.

Karim is well known for telling people his life philosophy: BE KIND! People have made t-shirts and bumper stickers with his face on them.

Karim Daoud came to the United States from Egypt twenty years ago. He met and married Jennifer Metz, a US citizen, and they have two young children together.

Karim pays his taxes, contributes to his local community, and shows up regularly for his mandated appearances at the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program.

ISAP is a program for immigrants who are in court proceedings related to their immigration status. So, for instance, someone who is seeking asylum may be put into ISAP, so they have to check in with ICE on a regular basis to make sure the government knows where they are.

Here’s how ICE took Karim into custody:

Part of Karim’s status requires that he check in regularly with ISAP to keep his work permit legal. Last month, at his most recent check-in, he was told that there was “a mistake” with his paperwork and that he needed to go to check in with ICE in Newark, about an hour drive away.

Karim showed up, eager to iron out any difficulties, and instead ICE took him into custody.

So, to sum up:

• Karim has been in the US for 20 years

• He’s married to a US citizen and has two US citizen kids

• He’s a hardworking taxpayer who is beloved by his local community

• He always shows up to his ICE check-ins… it’s not a mystery where he is or what he’s doing

• Karim was told there was “a mistake” with his paperwork, which was just a honeytrap from ICE to get him to come into the office so they could arrest him and initiate deportation proceedings

As a nation, we’ve said we’re going to arrest and deport “the worse of the worst.” Dangerous criminals who are in the US illegally and are moving drugs or involved in human trafficking.

But instead we are arresting people like Karim Daoud. Instead we are doing things like changing the status of 1,800 legal international students for infractions like speeding tickets. Instead we are arresting people for exercising their right to free speech.

Not that those things are the case with Karim. He has no criminal record of any kind. There’s no speeding ticket that has been mentioned. So far as I can find, he hasn’t spoken publicly about any political issue the administration might take issue with.

So why are we arresting and deporting people like Karim Daoud?

Well, the current administration has ordered ICE to at least quadruple their arrest goals. Where in the past ICE was arresting a few hundred people a day, they’ve been told to target arresting between 1,200 - 1,500 arrests a day. Most ICE branches are being told to arrest around 75 people a day, which brings us to nearly 1900 arrests a day. Managers are being told that those who fail to meet these goals will be “held responsible.”

Here are some things that make it harder or slower to arrest people:

* Due process
* Warrants
* When you don’t know where they are
* Filing charges

Things that make arrests easier or faster:

* When the people aren’t criminals
* When you know where they are (because they show up for check-ins, for instance)
* Legal residents of the US (like students on visas or green cards) are much easier to find than undocumented ones
* If someone’s crossing a border, even legally (like the many tourists being arrested at the border for minor or made-up issues with their visas)

The increased “arrest goals” means that our ICE officers aren’t looking for criminals to arrest, they’re looking for excuses to arrest.

Studies on quotas in law enforcement historically have shown the same thing over and over:

Quotas create an increase in unconstitutional and coercive behavior, even among well-meaning law enforcement officers.

It makes sense. If you’re being evaluated and “held responsible” for a certain goal — even an unreasonable one — you’re going to try to meet that goal. Which means that if it’s going to take you six weeks to track, find, and arrest a human trafficker, or three hours to invite an upstanding community member like Karim Daoud in to your office so you can arrest him, you’re going to choose Karim every time.

Boom, problem sorted, only 74 more arrests to go. Tomorrow we’ll do it all again.

These administrative goals of 75 arrests a day for every ICE office are, ironically, pushing our ICE agents away from searching for criminals, and toward arresting people who aren’t causing problems: people who we know where they are, know what they’re doing, people who are in process of applying for asylum, people who are paying their taxes and staying in touch with immigration authorities.

Forcing ICE to arrest more people is making us less safe, is removing immigrants who are contributing to American society, and is, ironically, moving ICE priorities away from catching criminals.

That’s why we’re in danger of losing people like Karim.

One of Karim’s fellow residents in New Jersey, Dave Norton, said that on the first day he opened his photography business, Karim showed up to give him some Egyptian money for good luck.

Dave asked if he could take a headshot of Karim, the same picture you can see on this post.

"He wore his 'Be Kind' shirt with his face on it,” Dave said. “And we took a few photos. This mantra 'Be Kind' was something that he actually practiced. It wasn't just some throw away thing that made him look like a good person. He really genuinely is a good person. He preaches kindness."

#FREEKARIM

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SOURCES:

• Article with quotes from the local community about Karim here.

• GoFundMe with updates and opportunities to support the family are here

• Learn more about the ISAP program here.

• Student visas are being cancelled.

• More than 1,800 students impacted by visa cancellations and SEVIS record alterations.

• Targeting students because of their exercise of free speech.

• Our quadrupled ICE goals.

• ICE offices with 75 arrests a day goals.

• Legal tourists with visas being locked up at border crossings.