The Justice Department and INS have been applying this Act to deport immigrants convicted of a felony drug offense, whether at the state or federal level. The Supreme Court ruling means that unless the federal government has made the crime a felony, a felony trafficking conviction under state law will not subject an immigrant to automatic deportation.The Immigration and Nationality Act contains a list of aggravated felonies that includes “a drug trafficking crime.” This phrase, in turn, is defined not in the immigration law, but in the criminal code as “any felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act,” the basic federal narcotics law.
Thousands of immigrants every year might benefit from the ruling, according to Jayashri Srikantiah, a law professor who heads the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School and who filed a brief on behalf of Jose Antonio Lopez, the immigrant whose Supreme Court appeal led to the decision
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The Justice Department and INS have been applying this Act to deport immigrants convicted of a felony drug offense, whether at the state or federal level. The Supreme Court ruling means that unless the federal government has made the crime a felony, a felony trafficking conviction under state law will not subject an immigrant to automatic deportation.
It sickens me that people like professor Srikantiah fight for the rights of felony drug traffickers to stay in the country.Thousands of immigrants every year might benefit from the ruling, according to Jayashri Srikantiah, a law professor who heads the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School and who filed a brief on behalf of Jose Antonio Lopez, the immigrant whose Supreme Court appeal led to the decision
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Worse yet, some folks are sickened by the prospect of a lawyer fighting for the rights of a thief or robber or rapist or even murderer. But, we’re all entitled to representation by an attorney in any criminal proceeding, whether guilty or innocent.It sickens me that people like professor Srikantiah fight for the rights of felony drug traffickers to stay in the country.
Completely different issue Richard. I have no problem with a lawyer representing a criminal in court. I also have no problem with someone fighting for the rights of immigrants, even though I don’t always agree with them.Worse yet, some folks are sickened by the prospect of a lawyer fighting for the rights of a thief or robber or rapist or even murderer. But, we’re all entitled to representation by an attorney in any criminal proceeding, whether guilty or innocent.