We learn as schoolchildren that the United States stands for justice for all, whether a person is accused of being a heinous killer or an undocumented immigrant.

So the forced deportation of Youngstown businessman Amer Othman Adi to Jordan by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement late last month in defiance of a congressional panel's request for a six-month review is shocking and worrisome.

And there is fear, rightly, that ICE is stretching the law by hastily deporting, without adequate explanation and review, not just Adi but also other longtime residents based on old deportation orders, without determining whether those orders had a real basis in fact. That cannot stand.

Adi, a businessman who had lived in the United States for nearly 40 years, who has been married to a U.S. citizen for nearly 30 of those years, and who has four daughters who also are U.S. citizens, is credited with helping to revive downtown Youngstown with his business investments.

He landed on ICE's deportation list after being accused of marrying an American woman in 1980 so that he could get a green card to stay in this country.

But the case is murky. The woman later recanted her story regarding the brief marriage and said that it was not a marriage of convenience. And Adi's lawyer, David Leopold, argued that Adi did not get his day in court on the matter -- a goal reinforced by last month's bipartisan call for a six-month review of the case by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security. ICE ignored that congressional request.

Deportations are sometimes necessary to eliminate threats and secure our borders. But old deportation orders ought to be carefully reviewed before they're used to deport otherwise upstanding residents. Adi's deportation did not meet that standard.

There were other inexplicable ICE actions in this case, but ICE has refused to say why it stayed an earlier order, prompting Adi not to leaving the country voluntarily Jan. 7 with his wife Fidaa Musleh, as the couple had planned.

More whiplash followed when ICE took Adi into custody Jan. 16 at what should have been a routine meeting, jailing him for about two weeks before forcibly deporting him the night of Jan. 29. By kicking Adi out of the country without a public review of the case or adequate explanation, ICE thumbed its nose not just at the congressional panel but also prominent local members of both political parties, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of the Youngstown area and Tracey Winbush, the Youngstown-based treasurer of the Ohio Republican Party.

An ICE spokesman, Khaalid Walls, said Adi need not be in the United States to get the congressionally requested review, but clearly that was not the intent of the House panel that asked for it.

Why would ICE not let Adi stay until a review could be finished? Why did ICE officials never offer a clear explanation of their contradictory actions in this case? One possible conclusion is that ICE's actions cannot withstand scrutiny.

ICE needs to be scrutinized in this case.

Congress should insist that ICE explain this and other rushed deportations of longtime U.S. residents who are pillars of their communities, churches and families. And, yes, ICE should thoroughly review Adi's case and publicly explain its actions.

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