Imm legal syst does not protect rights
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| Tue, 04-14-2009 - 4:20pm |
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

This photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008 shows Rene Saldivar, left, with his brother-in-law Aquiles Rojas in Ceres, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
WASHINGTON -- Nahuel Castrucci had no lawyer when he went before an immigration judge the first time, or the second time. He sat speechless and handcuffed as the judge was about to expel him from his own country.
That's when his mother jumped up in the courtroom and shouted, "He's a citizen! He's a U.S. citizen! He shouldn't be here!"
She was right. Her outburst prompted the judge to ask for more investigation from lawyers, eventually leading to Castrucci's release.
The American judicial system deems everyone innocent until proven guilty and guarantees a fair hearing with a lawyer - but not when it comes to immigration. Then there are far fewer rights. And as the system comes under pressure from a flood of new cases, the strain is showing.
One result is that U.S. citizens arrested as illegal immigrants or deportable residents cannot count on the legal system as a safety net. The odds are stacked against them. On the basis of interviews, lawsuits and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, The Associated Press has documented more than 55 such cases since 2000, and immigration lawyers count hundreds more.
Those who go through the immigration legal system can be arrested without a warrant. They are not read their rights unless it's a criminal case. They do not get a lawyer unless they can pay or find one who will work for free. They can be deported without hearings. And until this January, they didn't get a free phone call.
"They are deporting a very large number of people in very fast ways, often under the radar of any review by courts," said Daniel Kanstroom, director of the International Human Rights Program at the Boston College Law School. "Deportation of citizens is the tip of the iceberg. ... The system is in dramatic, desperate need of reform."
Remainder of article at http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_mistaken_for_illegal_ii.html
Read the remainder of the article for a few of the cases. I guess, just because one is an American citizen, it doesn't mean that we can't be deported anyway! Sheesh!





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And...???
Did you read in the article that these were
I'm sorry that this person was "mis-interpreted as a non-American", but our country is in crisis because of illegal immigration. This influx has put such a burden on our educational, legal, and social systems that we're breaking. Nearly 8 years of unrestrained immigration (legal AND illegal) has taken a toll. And I blame George Bush entirely for this problem.
In trying to weed out who is who, there are probably going to be some errors.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with everything you posted, but I do feel that INS is singling out a specific group &, without allowing them access to information/representation that could clear them, holding them unnecessarily & then, in some cases, deporting them without due process.
Here's the article I was talking about that had the mentally challenged man:
AP IMPACT: Citizens held as illegal immigrants
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_mistaken_for_illegal_i.html
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Maybe those we should really be blaming are the ones who have made mental health treatment so difficult to obtain in this country.
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