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Immigration Law

: Greg Siskind's Blog

BUSH'S ATTORNEY GENERAL ENDS DEPORTATION DEFENSE OF INCOMPETENT LEGAL REPRESENTATION NO LONGER

By Greg Siskind

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How many more massive changes in the immigration system can this Administration impose before they're gone?

The ACLU reports on the latest blow against constitutional rights of due process:

In a radical departure from years of legal precedent, Attorney General Michael Mukasey has ended the practice of allowing immigrants to reopen immigration cases that they lost because of their lawyers' mistakes or incompetence. Mukasey?s order, which is effective immediately, may lead to the deportation of innumerable immigrants who have lost their cases due to attorney error.

"This order will have a tremendous negative impact on countless people who will be deported simply because they had the bad luck to be represented by the wrong immigration attorney," said American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Rights Project Deputy Director Lee Gelernt. "This is a dangerous move away from the U.S. tradition of fairness and due process. Losing your case because your lawyer missed a deadline or made some other egregious error can never be considered a fair process."

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"Days before President-elect Obama takes office, the Bush Justice Department has taken another step to undermine the fundamental rights of a uniquely vulnerable group," said ACLU Immigrants? Rights Project Director Lucas Guttentag. "This cries out for reform to preserve the core values of equality and fairness."

The ACLU has posted a number of letters of protest from groups including the American Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Hopefully, the new Attorney General will review this issue as one of the first items on his agenda.

Here is the case:

Attorney General reverses Lozada case - Free Legal Forms

Full post as published by Greg Siskind's Blog on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).