Alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk lost his bid Thursday to get the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his deportation to Germany, where an arrest warrant accuses him of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder during World War II.
Justice John Paul Stevens denied, without comment, Demjanjuk's plea to step into his case. The 89-year-old retired autoworker lives in suburban Cleveland, and he, his family and his lawyers have said he's in poor health and too frail to be sent overseas.
With his U.S. options dwindling, Demjanjuk's attorney in Germany made a separate appeal Thursday to a German court to block the deportation.
There was no immediate indication from Immigration and Customs Enforcement whether the agency would move promptly to deport Demjanjuk.
Messages seeking comment were left with an agency spokesman.
There was also no immediate comment on Stevens' decision from Demjanjuk's family or attorney, who have promised to fight deportation. Messages were left for his son, John Demjanjuk Jr., and lawyer, John Broadley.
Demjanjuk was carried from his house in a wheelchair by immigration officers on April 14, and within hours his attorney won a reprieve from an appeals court. The three-judge panel in Cincinnati cleared the way for his deportation last week, and Demjanjuk's attorney appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The two sides offered dueling videos — the family's showing Demjanjuk moaning in apparent pain as an immigration doctor examined him before the deportation attempt.
The government responded with a surveillance video showing Demjanjuk walking slowly but unassisted.