Dear Editor,
Immigration lawyers and families of deportees, including Guyanese, say more and more immigrants in the U.S are being deported unfairly. The main reason is that they don’t have legal counseling or a good lawyer to question the government’s case against them. According to new rules, immigrants (green card holders included) can be deported for violating virtually any American law including jumping the turnstile of a subway station or shop lifting). Thousands of immigrants have been deported over the last few years because of a criminal record. Tens of thousands more have been deported for being illegally in the U.S.
Many immigrants who have violated laws are kept in detention centres pending a hearing before a judge who determines whether the immigrant can be deported. With rare exceptions, almost everyone in a detention centre is deported back to his or her home country.
Some immigrants in detention centres leave the country voluntarily hoping to cross the border again at a later time or to return through family sponsorship. Unlike in criminal matters, immigrants are not entitled to free counseling.
The immigration courts do not provide free lawyers to them. As a result, more and more immigrants have no legal counsel and more and more are being deported. Figures show that of more than 314,000 people whose cases ran their course in fiscal 2005, two-thirds went through the legal system without a lawyer.
Lawyers charge high fees and many of these immigrants cannot afford them. Thus, they face the court by themselves.
Unfortunately, deportation leads to banishment, separation from family, and even persecution in the home country. There are hundreds of Guyanese families in the U.S that have their loved ones deported back to Guyana. Most of those who are illegally in the U.S have no right to stay in the United States – no employer or legal relative to sponsor their visa, no claim to asylum. A country’s human rights record could be ground to delay or cancel deportation especially in an asylum case. But they need a lawyer to present the case.
Data shows that 34 percent of all non-detained immigrants with attorneys won their cases in fiscal 2003, compared with 23 percent without. Of non-detained asylum seekers, 39 percent with attorneys won their cases as compared with 25% who won without attorneys.
An immigrant in detention could have a case to stay in the U.S if he or she has a loved one in the U.S who is a citizen or if the person lived almost all of his or her life in America. It is wise for Guyanese who have loved ones in detention centres to consult the expertise of a lawyer rather than accept deportation.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
