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| U.S. Can Detain Illegal Immigrants Indefinitely, Ashcroft Rules |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/02/2003 |
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Illegal immigrants could be held indefinitely without bond if their cases present national security concerns, under a decision by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The order means aliens will not be released on bond while their cases are decided by immigration judges if the government can show national security issues are involved. 'Such national security considerations clearly constitute a reasonable foundation for the exercise of my discretion to deny release on bond,' Ashcroft said in the 19-page opinion, which was signed April 18. It has not been made public but is circulating among immigration attorneys and judges. The opinion was requested by the Homeland Security Department, which now has authority over most immigration matters, after the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld a judge's decision to release Haitian asylum-seeker David Joseph on $2,500 bond. The judge and appeals board concluded they did not have authority to deny bond based on the national security concerns cited by the government, which has sought to detain more illegal aliens in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. Joseph was among the 216 Haitians who arrived in Miami by boat on October 29, then leaped from the craft into Biscayne Bay and ran along a major causeway. The scene was captured on live television. Several federal agencies have opposed release of the Haitians on bond, arguing that national security would be threatened if the release triggered a huge wave of immigrants to attempt to reach U.S. shores. That would overtax the already-strained Coast Guard, Border Patrol and other agencies that are busy trying to thwart terror attacks, the government said. In addition, the State Department has warned that Haiti has become 'a staging point' for non-Haitians considered security threats, including Pakistanis and Palestinians, to enter the United States. The National Coalition for Haitian Rights said it would fight to overturn Ashcroft's order. Dina Paul Parks, the New York-based coalition's executive director, said the decision further erodes immigrants' legal rights. 'If you were lucky enough to get a sympathetic judge you could potentially get released on bond. Now even that prospect is taken away,' she said. Other immigrant advocates said they had not seen the decision but in general opposed such a policy. |
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