Thread: Immigrant Advocates Decry New DNA Rules

Immigrant advocates decry new rules on courts, DNA


By AMY TAXIN - Associated Press Writer
Edition Date: 01/09/09

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SANTA ANA, Calif. — Immigrant rights advocates expressed outrage over two new rules going into effect in the waning days of the Bush administration, one affecting how immigrants are represented in deportation cases and another mandating DNA tests for detained immigrants.

In a decision dated Wednesday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said immigrants facing deportation do not have the right to get their cases reopened just because of shoddy work by their attorney.

Another Justice Department rule, which took effect Friday, directs federal agencies to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained by U.S. authorities.

Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, could not say why Mukasey issued the 33-page ruling at this time. The other rule, on DNA, had been proposed last year but went into effect this week.

Mukasey's ruling followed a series of instances in which immigrants ordered by a judge to leave the country sought to reopen their cases by citing poor legal representation.

Immigration attorneys said the rule threatens immigrants' right to a fair hearing in a community already vulnerable to fraud.

"People pretend to be lawyers and hang up a shingle and tell the client, 'I am a lawyer and am going to represent you,' and then they don't," said Nadine Wettstein, director of the American Immigration Law Foundation's Legal Action Center. "If that were to happen, this decision says, 'Tough luck.'"

Nikhil Shah, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles, said he almost lost his chance at a green card because he was misled by a paralegal who pretended to be an attorney and failed to properly submit his paperwork.

Shah, who is originally from India, said he could see how easily an immigrant who didn't speak English or know the law could get into trouble in court.

But Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said immigrants need to take responsibility in choosing an attorney.

"The broad concept is completely valid. Deportation cases are not criminal proceedings, therefore nobody has a right to any kind of attorney - let alone a good one," said Krikorian, whose group favors limitations on immigration.

Justice officials have estimated the DNA rule would put 1.2 million DNA samples into the federal DNA database each year.

How many could be affected by the other rule wasn't clear. Immigration courts do not track how many people seek to reopen cases because of inadequate representation, said Susan Eastwood, a spokeswoman. The immigration court system is separate from the criminal courts and are overseen by the Department of Justice.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apusnews/ ... 26585.html

That means it works!



American Immigration Law Foundation's Legal Action Center is the one going against all those Immigrant rights advocates! LOL

These criminals use so many different names, at least they won't be able to argue about DNA when it comes to identifying them.

It's not just illegal aliens who get DNA samples taken:

US to collect DNA from anyone arrested or detained by Feds

U.S. Set to Begin a Vast Expansion of DNA Sampling

By JULIA PRESTON
Published: February 5, 2007

The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected.

The new forensic DNA sampling was authorized by Congress in a little-noticed amendment to a January 2006 renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides protections and assistance for victims of sexual crimes. The amendment permits DNA collecting from anyone under criminal arrest by federal authorities, and also from illegal immigrants detained by federal agents.

Over the last year, the Justice Department has been conducting an internal review and consulting with other agencies to prepare regulations to carry out the law.

The goal, justice officials said, is to make the practice of DNA sampling as routine as fingerprinting for anyone detained by federal agents, including illegal immigrants. Until now, federal authorities have taken DNA samples only from convicted felons. The law has strong support from crime victims’ organizations and some women’s groups, who say it will help law enforcement identify sexual predators and also detect dangerous criminals among illegal immigrants.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/05/washi ... dna.html...