In the course of the conversation about Irving's arrest, some attention has been given to the deportation from the United States of another Holocaust denier, Germar Rudolf. There is an interesting press release on the website of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]about this deportation.
In short, Rudolf was wanted by Germany for having violated the law against inciting racial hatred. He fled Germany and after hiding out in a number of countries ended up in the United States where he applied for political asylum, claiming political persecution in Germany.
A federal immigration judge denied Rudolf’s asylum claim and ordered him deported in June 2003. Rudolf appealed and lost. He then appealed to the US Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court. All denied Rudolf’s requests .
He became a fugitive, and then, after a period of time, showed up at an Immigration Office to apply for a Green Card on the basis of his having subsequently married an American citizen. [I guess you have to admire his hutzpah.] A quick check of the ICE computers indicated he was a fugitive and he was arrested.
His behavior reminds me of Irving who announced on his website the fact that he was going to Austria where there was a warrant for his arrest to give a speech. Then, he went and was arrested.
I would argue that part of the modus operandi of people such as this is to "spit in the eye" of authorities by breaking the law and then to test the resolve of the governing authorities [whether here in the US or in Austria].
If the authorities do nothing, they herald this as indicating that they are above the law. If the authorities act and arrest them, then they cry "Free speech" or "Victim!."
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A reader wrote to point out that I had misspelled Rudolf's name as Rudolph... [maybe I was influenced by the holiday (!) season]. Or it may have been that he has used so many aliases it is hard to keep his "real" name in my head. In any case, the misspellings have been corrected.
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