Mukasey: Aliens Have No Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel

Ianus · Ianus

Just one of the many things the new administration[Eric Holder] will have to reverse by issuing their own "opinion".The entire 34 page opinion can be found here.

Quote:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey ruled Wednesday that aliens have no constitutional right to challenge the outcome of their deportation hearings based on their lawyers' mistakes.

Mukasey's 34-page opinion is binding on the nation’s 53 immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals, which are overseen by the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.

The ruling dispenses with a 15-year-old precedent, established in Matter of Lozada, that allowed aliens to obtain a new hearing due to lawyer error. While aliens have no Sixth Amendment right to counsel, Lozada acknowledged their right to effective assistance under the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment.

The opinion does not rule out aliens succeeding on a claims of ineffective assistance, but it is expected to sharply reduce their chances. Immigration judges and the BIA will have complete discretion in assessing the claims, and the the opinion raises the standard for prevailing under them. Aliens must show that their attorneys' failings were "egregious" and that they likely affected the outcome of the case.

"Although the Constitution and the immigration laws do not entitle an alien in removal proceedings to relief for his lawyer’s mistakes, the Department of Justice may, as a matter of administrative grace, reopen removal proceedings where an alien shows that he was prejudiced by the actions of private counsel," Mukasey wrote.

Immigrants rights groups were sharply critical of the opinion. "There’s been a longstanding constitutional right recognized by the agency to obtain a new hearing due to counsel error," said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. "The attorney general has no abruptly eliminated that constitutional right."

While aliens may still try to appeal the BIA decisions to the federal appellate courts, Gelernt says he expects most panels will adhere to Mukasey's ruling on constitutional grounds. The ACLU and other groups intend to lobby Congress and the incoming administration to scrap Mukasey's opinion, Gelernt said.

Can't you just feel the love from this country....sigh!
What makes this so important is that this opinion is binding on the Board of Immigration Appeals[BIA] & ALL Immigration judges in all parts of the United States territory.It basically says that if your lawyer screws up your case you have no grounds to an appeal or or to re-open your case in an Immigration court or the BIA which usually applies to people in removal proceedings.

CIR_DREAM2009 · CIR_DREAM2009

Ugh, Jan. 20th can't come soon enough.

sunny_thedreamer · sunny_thedreamer

Next thing you know they would say Aliens have no right to life. If it was up to republican, all the immigrant would be in concentration camp as a ginnie pigs for testing purpose.

h3wlett · h3wlett

Bundled with this new rule is a rule "mandating federal agencies to collect DNA samples from anyone who is arrested and foreigners detained by immigration authorities."

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nati...ry/846183.html

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Mukasey: Aliens Have No Right to Effective Assistance of Counsel