Times-Call Editorial (Colorado)
Publish Date: 4/22/2009
Right to a speedy trial before a jury of peers. Access to a lawyer. Ability to call someone if arrested. Protections against warrantless searches of homes and businesses.
The innocent among us know that these are more than simply a safety net. They are assured to citizens of the United States.
Unless, of course, citizens happen to be caught up in an illegal immigration sweep.
Then, all bets are off. The process used to deport illegal immigrants does not necessarily take into account that hidden among the guilty are American citizens wrongly accused.
The rights guaranteed to citizens are meant to protect the innocent who are wrongly accused.
The Associated Press last week released a report documenting more than 55 cases of U.S. citizens improperly caught up in immigration law enforcement. Homes were searched without warrants. People were imprisoned far away from friends and family who might have otherwise been able to help them. Contact with lawyers and others on the outside was restricted or denied. Access to documents that could have proven identity was restricted.
In short, all of the things that citizens count on to protect themselves in cases where they’ve been wrongly accused were short-circuited.
In some cases, people were deported before family members knew.
The immigration system is fraught with problems — no surprise there. It is overloaded and those working within it are under intense political pressure to perform. Judges charged with making determinations are overworked — 214 judges handled 350,000 cases in one year. It’s little wonder errors occur.
Immigration officials say errors involving U.S. citizens are extremely rare, although no one keeps a record of how many times people caught up in immigration raids claim to be U.S. citizens and how often it turns out to be true.
Immigration reform is long overdue. Reform should start with protecting U.S. citizens from the unintended consequences of existing law.
http://www.timescall.com/editorial/editorial.asp?ID=15758
