In a rare display of bipartisan unity, New York’s entire congressional delegation is pressing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to banish a former Nazi guard who is living in Queens.
Jakiw Palij, 94, who worked as a Nazi guard, should be deported from the U.S., urges a letter signed by New York’s 29-member delegation — 18 Democrats and 9 Republicans in the House and two Democrats in the Senate.
“Removing Mr. Palij from American soil will send a message not only to the citizens of New York, but to the entire world,” the letter to Tillerson says.
Palij served as a guard at the Trawniki concentration and SS training camp in German-occupied Poland. The effort to boot the former Nazi has languished for years.
In 2004, a federal judge yanked Palij’s U.S. citizenship after the Department of Justice made the request. Palij claimed he was a farmer during World War II when he filled out paperwork in 1949, records show.
An immigration judge ruled he should be shipped to Germany, Poland or Ukraine. But those countries have scoffed at accepting him.
“It has been 13 years since Mr. Palij lost his right to remain here, and it has taken far too long for these court orders to be carried out,” the letter states.
In August, 21 members of the New York’s House delegation wrote a similar letter to Tillerson, asking him to boot the old Nazi.
Justice is pursuing “high-level engagement on this issue” with the three governments, urging them to accept Palij, Charles Faulkner of the bureau’s legislative affairs responded on Sept. 18.
That effort includes U.S. diplomats reaching out to embassy officials in Ukraine. Palij can become a Ukrainian citizen but needs to apply in person at the Ukrainian embassy or consulate, the letter said.
Even if Ukraine or one of the other two countries were to accept Palij, “it is not clear whether they would be in a position to prosecute him for his wartime activities,” Faulkner wrote.
Still, the new letter from New York elected officials urges Tillerson to personally “step in to settle this long-standing injustice” to make sure Palij no longer lives here.
