US immigration rule on lawyers scrapped by Obama

June 04 2009 by Liam Clifford

Obama begins US visa reform

Barrack Obama has thrown out a piece of controversial legislation introduced during the death throws of the Bush Administration that prevented immigrants on US visas facing deportation access to effective legal counsel. The reversal has been welcomed by immigrants’ rights groups.

The rule meant that US visa holders who had used an incompetent lawyer, perhaps through no fault of their own, were not able to cite this as a valid reason to appeal their removal orders.

This angered USA immigration advocate groups and they claimed that immigrants facing deportation did not have the same constitutional rights as other citizens, and that they were more at risk from sham lawyers, charging them for doing worthless work.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced he was dropping the order, which was issued by the former attorney general, Michael Mukasey. Holder has now instructed the Justice Department to establish a new rule on the subject.

Many see Obama’s move as a gesture towards his intent to proceed on American immigration reform as indicated in his recent speeches. The American Immigration Lawyers Association president, Charles Kuck, says the move is the beginning of, “the restoration of due process in the immigration system."

Kuck adds that Obama’s decision to drop the law, "recognises we can't treat immigrants any differently than ourselves if we expect to receive the same benefits the Constitution provides."

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