Liberty and Justice for All?

As everybody knows by now, recently Arizona's Governor signed a law requiring local law enforcement officials to take into custody persons when they have a "reasonable suspicion" that they are present in the U.S. illegally.  The person would be turned over to the Immigration Service, and be released from jail if they could demonstrate their legal status.

Last Monday, the ACLU and various other groups sued Arizona officials in Federal Court to void the law on a number of grounds including violation of the Constitutional rights of equal protection of the law and free speech.  President Obama has questioned the validity of the law and a number of individuals, organizations and governmental entities are protesting against the law.

Yet, polls show that a majority of Americans support the law. 

I suspect that most Americans think that enforcement activity will be limited only to illegal aliens, and that as American citizens, they have nothing to fear.  I hope that the following true story will make some people think twice about supporting a law that gives the government such tremendous powers over the lives of ordinary citizens.

In the 1980s, shortly after I had left my job as an INS Trial Attorney and entered private practice, I received a telephone call from Washington, D.C. from Congressman Edward Roybal.  Rep. Roybal was angry about something that the INS had done to one of his constituents, and he asked me to help. 

A young man had attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico, and was being held in detention by the INS in Los Angeles.  Although, he provided the officer with a birth certificate showing that he was born in Los Angeles (and was, therefore, a U.S. citizen), the officer did not believe him.  Why not?

Because the birth certificate was typed with two different types of ink.  Some of the words on the certificate were dark black, others were typed in a lighter shade of black.  The officer suspected that the birth certificate may have been altered.

It should have been very easy for the INS to verify the validity of the birth certificate since the Hall of Records was located just down the street from the Federal Building.

The same day, on Friday, I visited the young man in detention.  He told me that he had been incarcerated for five days.  I assumed that the INS had obtained a copy of the birth certificate from the Hall of Records, and that the two certificates did not match.  Instead, to my surprise, I learned that no one from the INS had even tried to obtain a copy of the birth certificate.  How long were they going to keep this man in custody before someone paid a visit to the Hall of Records?  No one could answer my question.

So together with an aide from Congressman Roybal's Los Angeles office, we obtained a certified copy of the birth certificate from the Hall of Records that same day.  And guess what?  The certified copy was also typed in different shades of ink.  Maybe some secretary had replaced her typewriter ribbon midway through typing his birth certificate.

We quickly hurried back to the Federal Building, and presented the certified birth certificate to an INS Officer.  "Oh, you're right", she said, "We will release him next Monday."

Next Monday?  She explained that she had a number of work-related tasks to perform that afternoon, so the young man would have to remain in jail over the weekend.  My jaw dropped in amazement.  Congressman Roybal's aide was outraged.  She demanded that the young man be released from detention immediately.  And, in the end, the government relented.  Still, he had been incarcerated, quite unnecessarily, for five days.

When I read the Arizona law (SB 1070) and the ACLU complaint (98 pages), before I could even start to think about all the legal arguments that will be raised in Federal Court, I think of that young man and the indifference of our government regarding his detention.

Is this what we mean by "liberty and justice for all"? 

Comments

[Saleem Khan]

That was an interested story by Mr. Shusterman, now please allow me to share another story in regards to "Liberty and Justice for all"
there was an arrest in Chicago 2004 of a undocumented man and then released on bond because of he had USA born children and he had clean record and living in the country for 10 years, his case was referred to an Immigration Judge, his Immigration Attorney represented him to Win his case and the case was continued several times, in 2007 the Immigration Judge Denied his application for removal of cancellation and adjustment of legal residence, because the Immigration Judge did not believed he and his US born children will be Persecuted in his homeland if send back, he was offered to an Appeal that decision, and after 20 months wait his Appeal was Approved neither, only God and that Person know what is the truth, 3 months before it came to my attention an interesting news that the same Immigration Judge has Approved a fraudulent marriage to US citizen's case and denied a genuine marriage to an American citizen's case, is this what called Liberty and Justice for all? the above man heads up to God and asking for Justice now, he have 3 American children who want their Parents to be as Family, not to be separated, this man and his family will be absolutely persecuted if returned to his homeland, I GUARANTEE it, at the end I would want Liberty and Justice for All by Action, not by words only, God bless Liberty and Justice for all,
Thank you

[qwerty]

I am a liberal when it comes to immigration laws but I don’t lose my judgment to emotions. Arizona is all about emotions – look at the arguments of both sides – where is the rational reasoning?

The US can’t have it both ways: the government cannot accept tax money from unlawfully present people and at the same time, the government can’t morally persecute them. If we can send people to the Moon, we should be able to tell that ITIN on tax return implies unlawful status (not conclusive, by any means, but – come on!)

On the other hand, all the cries about racial profiling and all those incidents about how US citizens are unlawfully detained, etc. make no sense and do not get us closer to winning the battle. We are a 300 million people nation – those things will happen.

Racial profiling- it has been going on for decades. Remember the shock after Terry v. Ohio? Arizona law is the same thing. Is it super fair? No. Is it biased and leaning against the Latinos? Yes. But how on earth one can argue that tough execution of existing laws is bad?

There are people who are in this country illegally – I don’t mind them at all. Like I said, we can’t have it both ways. In my opinion immigrants have made the US what it is. But states are sovereign and they have a right not to want to benefit from illegal immigration. Remember the issue of federalism! Do you want the federal government to control most of our lives? States want to recognize gay marriages – fine. They have a right to do it. Same with the SB law.

Applying common sense, the immigrants will move out from Arizona. Let’s see what will happen. If Arizona survives and prospers – good for them. If not, they will beg the immigrants to come back and offer each a ranch. We must believe the economics forces do have some force.

Do I really have to say it? It is all about the money. The only unknown is whether Arizona will make money or lose it.

Dura lex sed lex. Let Arizona be. And be honest about the law - there are bad things and there are good things – it is like everything else.

[SRINIVASAN PILLAI]

Close the border!

Register all!

Send the bad ones home!

Keep the good ones here!

This is good for our economical prosperity.

Also I dont think tea party activists want those jobs held by illegal immigrants!

End American hypocrisy!You cannot have cheap labor without immigrants.Immigration brings talent and hardwork as well.So why not support it!

Use common sense and not emotions!

[Sondra]

We need Immigration Reform NOW!
We need to fix our current immigration system that continues to "DIVIDE" many Blended American Family's where one or both parents of U.S. born children are being "JAILED" Indefinitely or "REMOVED" from their homes "PERMANENTLY". I do not believe that this great nation had intended for these laws to leave children without parents or husbands without wives so they are left to raise their families alone. The current system is out of touch with the needs of our country which has always been described as the "MELTING POT"; a nation which was founded upon Immigrants.
PLEASE, I petition you to find the courage to move forward with Immigration Reform "NOW" with specific legislation that would include a provision to "REUNITE" the American Families much like my own that has been DESTROYED by the current IMMIGRATION POLICIES & FELONY CRIMINAL consequences for minor violations. Most of the ILLEGAL ENTRY and REENTRY cases could be alleviated by a better system for processing the immigrant without such a lengthy wait time. These families are just trying to reunite with their loved ones, their children and the lives they left behind here in the U.S. Ask yourself what you would do if you returned home and your family had been taken, placed in a detention center and set for "REMOVAL" from the U.S.? Then they were scheduled to be returned to a third world country "FOREVER" with "NO" possibility to return legally for many years or "NEVER" due to the current immigration laws? Many American Families have been "RIPPED" apart and they are not really criminals at all. They are parents, husbands, wives and siblings and sometimes infants who will "ALL" be punished for a "LIFETIME" right after serving a lengthy Jail sentence in a United States Federal Prison for "LOVING" their Families too much. The U.S. immigration process is a windy road that demands an abundance of money, painful separation and many years to complete. Often the individuals are "DENIED" entry at the end of it all, due to "MINOR" infractions that have severe immigration consequences. WHY? We need to preserve the Unity of Blended American Families and their children!
My husband is NOT A CRIMINAL and yet he was "REMOVED" almost (3) yrs. ago after living (14) years here in the United States. We were a happy American Family raising our kids, working hard, paying taxes and making our house a "HOME"; and now he has a "LIFETIME BAR". Me and our (8) CHILDREN are all American born "CITIZENS" who will continue to suffer the irrevocable damage bestowed on us by our own government following the removal of my husband /their father. This issue must be addressed during the reform process so as to protect our "AMERICAN CHILDREN" from being denied a parent due to Policy & Fear.
Thank You,
"A Family Divided"

[John Vanos]

My solution is simple:-

Give all illegals special Red Cards,these allow them to work,get SSN,get Drivers license,travel back and forth between home countrys and USA.

That way they will have to pay all taxes and will get to see their families without worrying about being denied entry back to US.

The catch they go to back of the line and cant get Green card for 5yrs(only if no felonies committed in that time and all taxes paid).10 yrs if still clean records they can apply for citizenship.Simple solution that Demo and Reps will screw up anyways so who cares.

[Lucia Bertozzi]

After following the rules and paying thousands of dollars for 13 years, I feel that my 3 sons and I are no closer to getting our green cards than when we began the process. Even though we were approved after our interview in July of 2008, we still wait in a long line due to a backlog in my category. Since the year 2000, there are thousands of people in this category who for whatever reason became frustrated and left the country. Immigration should issue these unused visas (green cards) to those, like me, waiting in line.
Immigration reform should be separated. Legal immigration reform should be improved quickly. This should not be controversial because it is different from illegal immigration. People like my sons and me should not be penalized because of illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration should be handled separately after legal immigration is fixed.
Currently, the EB-3 worldwide category has 8 ½ years waiting time.
Because of the worldwide EB-3 category backlog, my sons have suffered. They are outstanding students yet have difficulty finding employment, applying to universities, leaving the country to visit relatives, and are not permitted to join the army and serve what they consider to be their country. In addition, because of errors committed by immigration in 2002 and 2003, they delayed my petition for the EB-3 category.
Despite all my efforts, playing by the rules, applying for the visa lottery for 13 years in a row, being penalized with extra taxes, paying annual renewal fees for driver’s license, travel permits, work permits and finger prints, being penalized to obtain fair mortgages , not being accepted for homestead exemption and countless problems , we remain in limbo.

WE NEED IMMIGRATION REFORM!!!!!

Thank you!

[dgd]

just deal with the legals first, we have been waiting so long for that greencard and it's just the number that we're waiting for, so unfair, justice delayed is justice denied.

[charlie]

why is the focus always on illegal immigration? why not find solutions to legal immigration problems such as visa backlogs? enough politics already!