Salt Lake Tribune lies about Ken Sah deportation case?

Media: Did reporter Christopher Smart of the Salt Lake Tribune deliberately leave out important information regarding the asylum denial of Ken and Sarita Sah? It reads as a kleenex box moment about 13-year-old Kunal Sah who will be heading for the national spelling bee because his parents were deported last year.

GREEN RIVER - How do you spell "perseverance?" When 13-year-old Kunal Sah stands before television cameras May 30-31 to represent Utah - for the second time - at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., his parents won't be there with him. Ken and Sarita Sah were deported back to India last July after 16 years residing legally in this country. They ultimately lost their battle to remain under tough U.S. immigration regulations in the post-9/11 atmosphere. Kunal was born in the United States and, as such, is a citizen. He moved with his folks to this central Utah town 10 years ago when they bought the Budget Inn motel here. With hard work, Ken and Sarita in 2001 then built the 46-room Ramada Inn nearby. In Kunal's bedroom at the Ramada, decorated with trophies from other spelling bees and a huge Webster's dictionary, he finds New Delhi on a globe. It's almost exactly halfway around the world, he explains. "If I knew when they would be able to come back, I would be relieved. But . . .." The fact is, nobody knows when his parents will be allowed back in the United States - even for a visit. According to the Sahs' Salt Lake City immigration attorney, Steven Laurence, it's all quite uncertain. Although Sen. Orrin Hatch's office helped the Sahs navigate the complexities of immigration regulations, the senator stopped short of sponsoring legislation that would circumvent those legalities.

Even the case summary at the bottom is heartbreaking.

Ken and Sarita Sah were deported back to India last July after 16 years residing legally in this country. Ken Sah came to the country as a student, and later applied for asylum because the region of India from which he came was experiencing religious violence. Then Sah waited for an asylum hearing for nearly 10 years. Had 10 years passed without a hearing, Sah would have been granted automatic asylum. But three weeks shy of that 10-year window, he got a hearing, and was denied asylum. He appealed until he ran out of appeals last year. Tougher immigration laws after 9/11 made his request for asylum more difficult. He and his wife ultimately lost their battle to remain in the country

Heartbreaking story till Ted Frank at Overlawyered points out why Ken Sah was denied asylum Via the tenth circuit court of appeals.

Mr. Sah was born in India in 1964 and came to the United States in 1990. He is Hindu.(1) Shortly before his entry visa expired in 1991, Sah applied for asylum, alleging that he would be targeted by Muslims in his home province, located in the southeastern part of India. When Sah lived in India, he was active in a group called Vishwa Hindu Parishad (Vishwa). Vishwa, according to Sah, is an organization committed to Hindu nationalism. In his 1991 asylum application, Sah stated that Vishwa was "fighting to demolish Babri Mosque," a mosque in southern India, because "[t]his mosque is built on our sacred land." R. 148. In fact, in 1992, after Sah had already come to the United States, Hindu extremists rioted and destroyed the mosque. In his asylum application, Sah noted that he "took a very active part in organizing and conducting [anti-mosque] meeting[s]" and that he "actively participated in the riots to [attempt to] demolish the Babri Mosque." Id.

I can see why he was denied people tend to frown on that sort of thing. I would have denied him with the absurd claim that as a Hindu he can't find a safe place in all of India to live.

But I come back to why information of the case was not included in the story by Smart or any of the editors saw fit to ask why not put the details to give a complete picture. What I am seeing is a reporter and paper with an agenda, not a good thing.

Via Malkin.