Immigration & Nationality Law

Washington DC - The American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) applauds Attorney General Eric Holders withdrawal of a decision issued by outgoing Attorney General Michael Mukasey that purported to unravel decades of legal precedent on the important role of and right to competent counsel in immigration proceedings.
 
Mukaseys last minute legal opinion affected many thousands of people facing life-changing consequences - namely, deportation. Mukaseys decision held that immigrants facing deportation have no legal or constitutional right to representation by a lawyer. Thus, he said, they have no right to complain or seek redress if their rights were violated because of incompetent representation.  
 
Mukaseys decision was Matter of Compean, 24 I & N Dec. 710 (A.G. 2009). The Attorney Generals decision says that the Department of Justice will initiate rulemaking procedures on the right to relief for ineffective counsel in deportation proceedings. In the meantime, the decision says, the law will revert to the prior law, which provided an avenue for victims of ineffective counsel to reopen their cases.  
 
AILF submitted extensive legal arguments to Mukaskey on this issue and spearheaded a  letter to Holder in February 2009, joined by 130 other organizations, asking him to take these precise actions.
 
"We are very encouraged that Attorney General Holder appreciates the importance of immigrants rights in deportation proceedings," said Nadine Wettstein, Director of AILFs Legal Action Center (LAC).  "Mukaseys decision, if left in place, would have created years of confusion in the immigration and federal courts and would have resulted in potentially thousands of people being thrown out of the country without having had their day in court." 
 
"We are gratified that Attorney General Holder has expressed a higher regard for the fundamental principles of due process and improving the integrity of immigration court decisions," said Ben Johnson, AILF Executive Director.