News (Media Awareness Project) - US FL: Criminal Deportees Get Appeal Route |
| Title: | US FL: Criminal Deportees Get Appeal Route |
| Published On: | 1999-05-22 |
| Source: | Palm Beach Post (FL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-06 05:37:33 |
CRIMINAL DEPORTEES GET APPEAL ROUTE
A Federal Court narrowly opened the door shut by Congress On Court Appeals
for criminal immigrants trying to stay in the United States, immigration
attorneys said Friday.
In a case affecting thousands of foreigners, immigrants who challenged
deportation over their criminal records before new laws eliminated court
appeals in 1996 can pursue another avenue in court with habeas corpus
petitions, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
The appeals court, which eliminated the Justice Department's retroactive
application of the law, declined "to make a broad statement" about the
scope of potential relief but said cases out of Miami and Atlanta met its
standard for review.
"This obviously is a civil rights victory," said attorney Dan Gelber, who
brought the Miami case. "It really is about whether government conduct
would have to withstand review and scrutiny in the courts."
A call to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for comment was not
immediately returned.
"To punish a man not only twice but retroactively, that's unfair. That
offends our sense of justice," said Charles Kuck, who represented Colombian
immigrant Efrain Gutierrez Martinez.
The Atlanta painter had a 1988 conviction for cocaine distribution
conspiracy and applied for a deportation waiver two days after the first of
two new laws took effect.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service also was trying to deport Trevor
Mayers to Barbados based on a 1993 conviction for possession of more than
110 pounds of marijuana.
The agency withdrew a waiver granted at a hearing six days after President
Clinton signed the law, but the appeals court ordered a lower court to tell
INS to reinstate it.
Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration lawyer not involved in either case, called
the decision significant for its breadth, noting that a client who filed to
stop his deportation 18 years ago would be covered.
The 11th Circuit decision affects deportation cases in Florida, Georgia and
Alabama. Three other federal circuits have reached the same conclusion.
A Federal Court narrowly opened the door shut by Congress On Court Appeals
for criminal immigrants trying to stay in the United States, immigration
attorneys said Friday.
In a case affecting thousands of foreigners, immigrants who challenged
deportation over their criminal records before new laws eliminated court
appeals in 1996 can pursue another avenue in court with habeas corpus
petitions, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
The appeals court, which eliminated the Justice Department's retroactive
application of the law, declined "to make a broad statement" about the
scope of potential relief but said cases out of Miami and Atlanta met its
standard for review.
"This obviously is a civil rights victory," said attorney Dan Gelber, who
brought the Miami case. "It really is about whether government conduct
would have to withstand review and scrutiny in the courts."
A call to the Immigration and Naturalization Service for comment was not
immediately returned.
"To punish a man not only twice but retroactively, that's unfair. That
offends our sense of justice," said Charles Kuck, who represented Colombian
immigrant Efrain Gutierrez Martinez.
The Atlanta painter had a 1988 conviction for cocaine distribution
conspiracy and applied for a deportation waiver two days after the first of
two new laws took effect.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service also was trying to deport Trevor
Mayers to Barbados based on a 1993 conviction for possession of more than
110 pounds of marijuana.
The agency withdrew a waiver granted at a hearing six days after President
Clinton signed the law, but the appeals court ordered a lower court to tell
INS to reinstate it.
Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration lawyer not involved in either case, called
the decision significant for its breadth, noting that a client who filed to
stop his deportation 18 years ago would be covered.
The 11th Circuit decision affects deportation cases in Florida, Georgia and
Alabama. Three other federal circuits have reached the same conclusion.
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