By Debbie Schlussel
As I recently told you, yesterday was supposed to be the day that Nazi mass murderer John Demjanjuk was finally be deported from America. The key phrase: “supposed to be.”
That’s because Demjanjuk has been gaming America and its immigration laws for more than a half-century. And even with a final deportation order, he continues to game the system.
I knew it was too good to be true, when I read that the 89-year-old Demjanjuk was scheduled to be shipped away from America, yesterday. And it was. His lawyers requested a stay on Friday, which a judge granted, giving him more time in America. Demjanjuk’s legal team claimed that after all these decades defrauding American and fighting to stay here after he got caught, he’s simply too frail and old to be deported now.

John Demjanjuk:
Just One of Many Nazis Who Gamed the System for a Good Life in America

Nazi Death Camp Guard John Demjanjuk Then (Third From Left)

There are so many other Nazis for whom this absurd “too old and frail” defense works. Nazi Johann Leprich snuck in and out of Canada (post-9/11) and hid under the staircase of his suburban Detroit home. When he was finally caught, he too fought the system, until he was too “old, frail, and mentally incompetent” to go, his lawyers successfully impressed upon a judge.
A gullible judge granted the stay for Demjanjuk on Friday, but just hours ago, the stay was revoked. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though, about actually seeing Demjanjuk stepping off American terra firma once and for all. He just announced he’s appealing the revocation of the stay.
Demjanjuk’s fight to stave off deportation has lasted decades. And like many other Nazis we’ve caught living in our midst, he’s largely succeeded, enjoying a long life on American soil.
He won’t give that up without going down fighting. And so the fight continues.
Meanwhile, John Demjanjuk nears the age of 90, while most of his victims never got to see even a fraction of that number of years. And he may yet die on American soil.
As I’ve noted before, to date, the only real punishment John Demjanjuk ever got from anyone was when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Detention and Removal Operations officials detained Demjanjuk in their facilities for a few months.
And compared to the camps in which his victims died, ICE DRO facilities are palaces.
As I’ve noted, even if Demjanjuk finally gets sent away, his life has been lived. He didn’t suffer. Just two weeks ago, ICE deported Nazi Josias Kumpf from Wisconsin. Kumpf took part in the shooting over 8,000 people at the Trawniki labor camp in Poland.
But he’s 83, now. Like Demjanjuk, he gamed the system for years, living the good life in America.
Sending him back to Austria, even if for trial, is not justice for his victims at this point in his long life.
When it’s this hard to deport a Nazi from our shores, multiply that by thousands (of other aliens we’re trying to rid from U.S. soil), and you know why our immigration system is a mess.
PREVIOUS:
* The John Demjanjuk Story: How “Deporting” a Nazi Takes Decades; Lesson on Greater Immigration Probs
* A Nazi Murderer’s Good Life: Will We Finally Deport John Demjanjuk?
* German Indictments of Nazi Demjanjuk No Cause for Celebration; Only ICE Gave Death Camp Guard Any Real Punishment