At dinner atop a Denver office tower recently, a visiting Jordanian military chief who’d just been introduced to the new U.S. attorney, Troy Eid, an Arab-American, approached Eid incredulously.
“‘How can that be?”‘ Eid recalled the Jordanian asking. A man of Arab descent couldn’t possibly be picked to represent U.S. government interests, the Jordanian said. “‘It must be a token post … Are you wealthy?”‘
Appointed by President Bush, Eid responded with pride. “I said: ‘I’m not wealthy. I went to Wheat Ridge High School. That’s the great thing about this country.’
“If my background can show a few people what’s possible in this country, that’s great.”
Tommorrow Eid marks the formal start of his service after an ambitious first six weeks on the job as the government’s top law enforcement officer for Colorado. The only son of an Egyptian immigrant, Eid, 42, appears to be the the only Arab-American among the 94 U.S. attorneys.
And with enforcement of immigration law his top priority, Eid said he’ll draw on this background and a longstanding “interest in the underdog” to ensure fairness.
“Being fair is very important, telling people what your policy is going to be,” he said. “You get into problems when you’re selective.”
The criminals he vows to prosecute most aggressively – deportees who illegally re-enter the United States – often prey on immigrant communities, he said.
And criminals from abroad often drive illegal drug trafficking, his second major priority. Colorado has emerged as one of the busiest drug distribution centers in the country with transnational gangs taking root.
Taken together, immigration and drug-related crime now dominate federal criminal prosecution in Colorado.
Other priorities for Eid: sexual exploitation of children using the Internet, and terrorism cases – the overall top priority of the Justice Department under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
“We get terrorism cases. We take them very seriously. They typically come to us through the JTTF (the FBI-run Joint Terrorism Task Force). … We have some investigations that have resulted in charges and convictions.”
A symbolic investiture ceremony scheduled for this afternoon marks the formal beginning for Eid, who on Aug. 11 replaced acting U.S. Attorney William Leone. He had served since December 2004, when John Suthers resigned to become Colorado attorney general, after Ken Salazar left that position for the U.S. Senate.
Eid previously worked as legal counsel to Gov. Bill Owens and as a lawyer specializing in environmental and Indian affairs cases. He grew up in Wheat Ridge and graduated from Stanford University the University of Chicago law school. His wife, Allison Eid, became a Colorado Supreme Court justice in February. They have two children.
Eid’s father, the late Edward Eid, fled from Egypt in 1957 after military dictator Gamal Nasser took power and started fresh in America. He worked at a steel factory and as an accountant at a candle factory – and dealt with discrimination along the way.
“My dad was typical of immigrants off the boat. … He would have been offended if anyone focused on his roots. He came from a time when you put your head down and assimilated as quickly as possible,” Eid said in an interview Wednesday.
“I thought of myself as an American whose father was from Egypt.”
Diversifying the government’s legal workforce – only 18 of 94 U.S. attorneys are women – has loomed as a goal.
“I venture Eid is among the first Arab-Americans to hold such as office,” said Nidal Ibrahim, executive director of the Arab-American Institute.
“During an especially critical and sensitive time in our country’s history, having an Arab-American serving as U.S. attorney for Colorado represents an important milestone.”
Staff writer Bruce Finley can be reached at 303-954-1700 or bfinley@denverpost.com
