Immigrant Rights Debate

" Well illegal immigration back in the spotlight this week that the Obama administration is taking steps to reverse the Bush Administration ruling. -- denied immigrants the right to reopen cases they lost because of mistakes that lawyers may. Joining us now is Wasserstein founding partner at the immigration law group. And Dan Stein from fair the federation for American immigration reform welcome to you both tenement. And that an -- what's you public policy while -- was -- reverse. The policy."

" Twenty years has been that if an immigrant can prove that there deportation order was due solely to the lawyer ever. The -- reopen their case and have a judge here the -- by no means was this an automatic do over. That is have been established legal. Presents for twenty years the Bush Administration -- final days in order rescinded this longstanding rule and now they're -- ministries -- simply reestablishing a little fairness to this type of case."

" All right so Dan what problems -- have -- that is that the fact that it would establish some type of constitutional rights for immigrants during a deportation hearings what's your beaten."

" Well -- Obama President Obama campaign on a platform he was going to demonstrate to the American people. That immigration law was being enforced that the deportation process was actually working again. Our Eric -- made this decision no analysis of any kind of how allowing aliens to reopen. Case because of ineffective assistance of counsel Shannon -- do not have a constitutional right to an attorney in a deportation proceeding because it is civil. It is -- it is not a criminal proceeding now the ACLU in the immigration bar. They want every deportation proceeding to be -- basically criminal trial and becomes so cumbersome procedurally. Burdensome and expensive it's really impossible to effectively with twelve million illegal aliens here deport people so what the Bush Administration basically did was say. -- you claim ineffective assistance of counsel to an attorney never had a right to in the first place. Many aliens are represented -- who are not represented in deportation proceedings. Back in May basically make that same motion and and in this case Eric Holder specifically ignored the fact that there's no constitutional right in his decision. He did mention that affected his decision as to what we're going to do is go back to the status quo. Can you give me chaos delay fraud -- deportation delays. There needs to be an assessment of how allowing this motion to reopen will affect fraud delay and hamstring this system before it goes forward."

" Let me get got a chance to respond -- where -- these right come from actually the Supreme Court and the federal courts the past twenty years have been very firm in that immigrants in deportation proceedings. Have a Fifth Amendment right to due process so there's been quite enormous amount of an analysis done over the past twenty years through the court system seven of seven of appeals courts of appeal agreed that -- the Supreme Court. -- me say this this is simply an assertion of fairness into the system. This is not a do over these people don't get to say here. The only people who really benefit from this of those people that would have been able stay here had it not been for their attorneys -- so I think we can all agree that a mother should be separated from your assistant child which is pretty much permanent undo an attorney failed to file some paperwork or missing a deadline. That there has been an enormous amount Nelson has been done to the courts and I think this is just another example of pres Obama showed that he's going to make our immigration system more fair. More functional. So this is simply an issue of fairness this is not going to create any sort of."

" RH ID and very quickly -- wrap us up here mean is this say should we have some compassion in this area or is this going beyond that."

" Look here and everybody wants fairness and every proceeding the US government administers but. The ACLU has a track record for thirty years of challenging every effort to administer enforce the laws in the interior of this country they do not want immigration law enforced in the interior. Every phase at every level of the enforcement process including deportation they immediately attacked the procedure this is in our opinion. An effort to continue to hamstring the process there needs to be an evaluation. -- some kind of a cost benefit analysis to determine how burdensome it is to allow these long term motions to reopen. Free to go on that's why Obama's and is still in the country this systems -- it doesn't work."

" I can dance signing -- Wasserstein we thank you very much for your time today and a great debates gentleman."