Deportation from the US, especially if one has been living here for a long time and has family ties, is an extremely harsh punishment. It can be far more severe than serving a few months or years in prison and then being set free in this country. Yet, non-citizens in US deportation proceedings are not accorded the same rights as one would get in a criminal proceeding. The non-citizen in deportation does not get an automatic right to counsel. He or she is not protected against long periods of detention for the immigration violation. Worse still, the US Congress can pass retroactive laws to make people amenable to deportation even though it is unconstitutional for Congress to retroactively criminalize conduct.
Let me start by telling a short story about two young lovers who were jinxed by our harsh immigration laws. Although the characters and facts in my story are entirely fictional, I have been inspired to tell this story based on my experience as an immigration attorney who has represented people in similar situations.
Mira Singh is a permanent resident from India. She has just turned 21, and received her green card before 21 when her parents were granted permanent residency. Her college sweetheart, Hameed Khan, a Pakistani national, is in Canada. He and his family lived in the US for several years and were out of status. After 9/11, they decide to leave for Canada because they felt vulnerable when he and his father were required to report for Special Registration. Hameed reluctantly left with his family as he wanted to be with Mira.
Mira often goes to Canada to meet Hameed whom she misses terribly. They talk about ways he can reunite with her in the US, but each time she drives back to the US because there is no resolution. There are times when Hameed jokes to her that he would swim across a “safe” river at some point on the border to get back in to the US.
One day while Mira is driving back after meeting Hameed and is already about fifty miles in the US, he calls Mira on the cell phone and says he is about to swim across a certain river that borders Canada and the US. Mira tells him not to do it, but he goes ahead with this impulsive decision. Mira then turns around her car to find him and speeds back toward the border. When she does find him cold and freezing after the swim, she realizes that she was tailed by border agents. The agents accost both of them. Mira is indicted for the felony crime of attempting to transport an alien who illegally entered the US. Her boyfriend is ironically charged with the lesser misdemeanor of making an improper entry into the US.
The US Attorney’s office in the border town where they are indicted issues a press release that Hameed is being investigated for terrorism. The local press covers the story and laps up the information provided by the US attorney’s office. Mira pleads guilty to the offense because she is too frightened to face a trial by jury in a post 9/11 world. Her criminal defense lawyer, a public defender, correctly instructs that if she is convicted after a jury trial, she may face greater jail time than after a plea bargain. Part of her plea agreement is to cooperate with the government against Hameed even though she does not have a clue about any alleged terrorist link. They are all along detained in separate detention centers, and the US magistrate in federal district court is reluctant to let them out on bail.
Upon pleading guilty, Mira gets time served and probation. But she is not released, as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony must be detained until deported. Hameed also pleads guilty, but is cleared of any link to terrorism. Both are then put into removal proceeding. Even though Mira has parents in the US who are permanent residents, she cannot apply for a waiver because of her aggravated felony conviction. She is deported to India. Her boyfriend is in any event in the US illegally, apart from being convicted of a misdemeanor, and is deported to Pakistan because he too is not eligible for any relief.
Let me start by telling a short story about two young lovers who were jinxed by our harsh immigration laws. Although the characters and facts in my story are entirely fictional, I have been inspired to tell this story based on my experience as an immigration attorney who has represented people in similar situations.
Mira Singh is a permanent resident from India. She has just turned 21, and received her green card before 21 when her parents were granted permanent residency. Her college sweetheart, Hameed Khan, a Pakistani national, is in Canada. He and his family lived in the US for several years and were out of status. After 9/11, they decide to leave for Canada because they felt vulnerable when he and his father were required to report for Special Registration. Hameed reluctantly left with his family as he wanted to be with Mira.
Mira often goes to Canada to meet Hameed whom she misses terribly. They talk about ways he can reunite with her in the US, but each time she drives back to the US because there is no resolution. There are times when Hameed jokes to her that he would swim across a “safe” river at some point on the border to get back in to the US.
One day while Mira is driving back after meeting Hameed and is already about fifty miles in the US, he calls Mira on the cell phone and says he is about to swim across a certain river that borders Canada and the US. Mira tells him not to do it, but he goes ahead with this impulsive decision. Mira then turns around her car to find him and speeds back toward the border. When she does find him cold and freezing after the swim, she realizes that she was tailed by border agents. The agents accost both of them. Mira is indicted for the felony crime of attempting to transport an alien who illegally entered the US. Her boyfriend is ironically charged with the lesser misdemeanor of making an improper entry into the US.
The US Attorney’s office in the border town where they are indicted issues a press release that Hameed is being investigated for terrorism. The local press covers the story and laps up the information provided by the US attorney’s office. Mira pleads guilty to the offense because she is too frightened to face a trial by jury in a post 9/11 world. Her criminal defense lawyer, a public defender, correctly instructs that if she is convicted after a jury trial, she may face greater jail time than after a plea bargain. Part of her plea agreement is to cooperate with the government against Hameed even though she does not have a clue about any alleged terrorist link. They are all along detained in separate detention centers, and the US magistrate in federal district court is reluctant to let them out on bail.
Upon pleading guilty, Mira gets time served and probation. But she is not released, as an alien convicted of an aggravated felony must be detained until deported. Hameed also pleads guilty, but is cleared of any link to terrorism. Both are then put into removal proceeding. Even though Mira has parents in the US who are permanent residents, she cannot apply for a waiver because of her aggravated felony conviction. She is deported to India. Her boyfriend is in any event in the US illegally, apart from being convicted of a misdemeanor, and is deported to Pakistan because he too is not eligible for any relief.