Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing

I had some time this morning to watch the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing called for by Senator Leahy on "Improving Efficiency and Ensuring Justice in the Immigration Court System."  They discussed Matter of M-A-M-, DOMA issues and enforcement of final orders.  They discussed the length of detention, blurbs about 513 people being caught at the border in two trucks and the disparity in asylum cases by court and by jurisdiction.  

The interesting issue is that one of the primary basis for the hearing, efficiency, was not the primary subject matter.  They didn't talk about computer problems, staffing shortages, training of immigration judges or other issues that would slow down the actual process and contribute to the backlog.  They also did not discuss ensuring justice; the violation of Due Process rights by immigration judges or ICE that lead to extensive litigation.  

Nice side-step!  It was another great time to dig into the real issues such as third party oversight of ICE, third party oversight of the immigration judges by people who's primary purpose is to ensure integrity in the process and not simply moving cases and finally budget issues to help alleviate the staffing shortages. 

Critically, Efficiency and Justice are not always on the same path.  There are going to be tensions such as litigating due process issues which will take a much longer time.  That doesn't mean that the inner workings of the courts can't be upgraded to make the cases move faster!  That doesn't mean that we sweep under the rug cases where ICE violates people's rights in order to move cases more quickly.  There has to be a balance.  Yet these issues were not addressed! 

(Personally) I applaud the continued discussions about immigration reform whether it be about changing the laws, implementing administrative remedies through the executive branch or making the courts more aware of the Due Process issues with ICE (and themselves).  However, we must actually discuss the minutia to resolve the issues.  A wise man said if you manage the pennys the dollars will come.  Its the same here; manage the minutia and the efficiency will come and there will be time to deal with the big due process issues. 

Philip Eichorn

Comments

[businessimmigrationissues.com]

Immigration laws can be complicated and they do change. The process can also end up being quite difficult for individuals seeking citizenship if things aren't done perfectly. For anyone dealing with immigration issues, it is helpful to seek legal counsel and hire a lawyer and although it may seem appropriate to cut corners financially and do it yourself, it isn't the best option. With immigration, you want to have all of your ducks in a row so try and hire a lawyer who can guarantee the counsel, support, and assistance you need to solve your issue.

[immigrationissues.com]

Great way to view this, "Managing the pennies and the dollars will come."

The problem is just that. There are 100 pennies in a dollar and think about that picture, it is a lot harder to manage 100 pennies in your purse or wallet than one dollar bill. So, yes. It will be chaotic, and unorganized at first but if you put the time in to straighten things out (cash your pennies in), it will pay off in the long run and move more efficiently. Immigration issues are just that, issues. In time, I am sure we as a country, will work them out.

[Christina Postolowski]

Thank you for your post. You and your readers may also be interested in Appleseed's written testimony submitted to the hearing which can be found here: http://www.appleseednetwork.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=K2R6rcJciJI%3d&tabid=81.

The testimony was based on three Appleseed reports discussing the functioning of the immigration court system: “Assembly Line Injustice” (http://bit.ly/appleseedALI), chronicling and proposing solutions to problems in the immigration court system; “Immigration’s Hidden Population” (http://bit.ly/hiddenpop), examining the treatment of immigrants with mental disabilities; and “Children at the Border” (http://bit.ly/mxuacs), documenting DHS’s failure to properly screen unaccompanied minors at the border.

[moncler vest]

let's join our hands together to stop this kind of wrong doings. It may risk lives in the future if we just let them continue.