by TChris

A joint report by the American Bar Association and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund concludes that changes in immigration laws "have eroded the due process protection afforded to immigrants."

“This report is a clear call to action,” said ABA President Dennis W. Archer. “The laws as they stand are harming thousands of U.S. families and their immigrant loved ones. We must fulfill our nation's promise as a truly inclusive society by addressing these issues and making changes that provide our nations’ immigrants the fairness and due process protections that are integral to our system of justice.”

The report found that low-level immigration officials make important decisions without the constraint of procedural safeguards or judicial review; that lawful permanent residents are being deported for activities that occurred long ago, before they were deportable offenses; and that people with compelling reasons to stay in the country who would not have been deported in the past (including abused women and abandoned children, people who fled genocide or torture, and the developmentally disabled) are now being deported.

Current policies disrupt the lives of immigrants and citizens alike while costing taxpayers a billion dollars a year. According to Esther Lardent, chair of the ABA Commission on Immigration, which authored the study:

“This report shows that part of our American identity is at risk. It’s time for us to come together and restore our reputation as a beacon of freedom and guardian of due process under the law.”