An Amish man is back in Canada while he challenges a law requiring his photo be taken for legal residence in the United States.
Daniel Zehr, 29, of Ontario, is a Canadian citizen and a member an Old Order Amish sect that takes literally the Bible's prohibition of graven images, which is why he has refused to consent to an immigration photo.
On Thursday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned away an emergency appeal seeking to prevent Zehr's removal from the country. He returned Saturday to Canada, said his attorney, Mark Knapp.
Knapp said Zehr was allowed in the United States for his legal challenge, but had to leave at its conclusion. Zehr was refused re-entry to the United States on Saturday, Knapp said, though he wasn't told why.
"It was quite disconcerting, to say the least as, an American citizen," Knapp said.
Zehr had entered the United States temporarily as a nonimmigrant visitor to live with his wife to Licking Township, Clarion County, about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
In December, Zehr ran afoul of immigration authorities when he traveled with his wife and daughter to Canada to visit his father, who had had a heart attack. In January 2004, the family was returning home when Zehr was stopped at the border and told that he had "self-deported" and could not return because he did not have a photo ID.
Federal prosecutors said the photo is crucial to Department of Homeland Security officials who do background checks of anyone seeking alien status or citizenship. Zehr's attorneys said he was willing to be fingerprinted - and that fingerprints are a better way to confirm a person's identity - but prosecutors said a photo is necessary.