Thread: Immigration Lawyer Complains About Tactics

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/arti...810055afe2.txt

Immigration lawyer complaints about tactics
06/02/2006 10:35:57 AM




DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An immigration lawyer says he and his client were tricked into going to an immigration office for an appointment.

When they arrived, his client, Estephanie Izaquirre, 18, was arrested.

Izaquirre's lawyer, Jim Benzoni, of Des Moines, said he received an e-mail for Izaquirre, a teenager from Honduras, saying she needed to come in to complete paperwork. Benzoni said the e-mail implied that Izaquirre was going to get her green card.


Now he is fighting to keep Izaquirre from being deported.

"Immigration services is using false inducements to get people in there," he said. "If our clients are supposed to be telling the truth, why is the government not required to do the same?"

Amy Peck, a lawyer from Omaha, Neb., who is the national chairwoman of the liaison committee between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the tactic is being used more frequently throughout the country.

She said several lawyers have reported to the committee that immigration officials are using similarly vague language to lure people in to be arrested.

"It's a trick," she said. "It is misleading. But I can't go as far as to say it's improper."

Immigration officials said Izaquirre was a fugitive who snuck across the U.S. border when she was 13. They say an order was issued for her deportation.

"The e-mail was exactly what it says ... finalize the situation. Her attorney can say it's deliberately vague, but I think it's specific in saying we need to complete our paperwork and take action one way or another," said Marilu Cabrera, spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Benzoni said Izaquirre is essentially an orphan -- her mother is dead and her father was not around.

She crossed the border into Texas in 2001 to be with her sister who has since married an American and become a U.S. citizen living in Des Moines.

Benzoni said he used a provision in the law that allows young immigrants who qualify as children in need of assistance to get a green card if they're in the U.S. illegally.

Izaquirre was granted special immigrant juvenile status when she was 17. On Tuesday, the day after she turned 18, the e-mail asking Izaquirre to complete paperwork arrived.

Another immigration lawyer, Lori Chesser, said the tactic used to get Izaquirre and others like her to come in to be arrested is "playing dirty.

"What are we going after juveniles for? I mean, can't we concentrate on drug traffickers and human traffickers? I don't understand where we're going with this enforcement," Chesser said.

Tim Counts, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said anyone who is in the country illegally is subject to arrest and deportation.

"We always prioritize cases involving national security and criminal activity, but we also enforce the immigration laws," he said.

Immigration officials said Izaquirre was a fugitive who snuck across the U.S. border when she was 13. They say an order was issued for her deportation.

You have to love lawyers. It is ok to sneak across the border, but it is not ok to send a letter about a hearing.

Don't illegals and their supporters ever get tired of whining and complaining ,peeing, and moaning? All they ever do, is bellyache

A deportation order had been issued for her why in any way shape or form would she think they were going to give her a green card? Also the lawyer did not know that the order was issued? Gimme a break.

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"What are we going after juveniles for? I mean, can't we concentrate on drug traffickers and human traffickers? I don't understand where we're going

These "juveniles" are law breakers. Thats where we are going. No one told these teenagers to come here. I would think they would want to be in familar surroundings. Not in a foregin country.
This is just ANOTHER SOB STORY.