Debbie Schlussel: Immigration Alert: Supreme Court Decision May Swell Alien Problem
While Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, dealing with whether the Bush administration can try Gitmo detainees in special military courts (Hamdan was Bin Laden's driver), is an important Supreme Court case to be decided this month (and we've written about it), there are two cases that may be far more important.
Those cases, Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon and Bustillo v. Johnson (see also, here), if decided the wrong way could further exacerbate our illegal immigration problem and clog the courts with illegal alien criminals demanding new trials. And the case is yet another reason why the U.S. must protect its sovereignty and not submit to the World Court.
At issue in both of these cases is whether foreign prisoners in the U.S. have a right to reopen their cases if they AND their consulates were not read their rights at the time of arrest. The World Court said Mexican illegal immigrants in our prison system have legal rights to contact their consulates, under the Vienna Convention, and that, if not informed of and afforded that right, they can re-open, and in many cases, even have the charges against them thrown out. You know, the same Vienna Convention that is anachronistic and only abided by our government and no other.
The ruling of the World Court is completely absurd. It is a move that--if the Suprem Court agrees with it--our legal system and our country cannot handle. Both are already overstressed with thousands of illegal alien criminals who are violent and hardened. G-d help us if they are set free over this technicality.
We can only hope that the Roberts court has some common sense. We can only hope that at least five Justices say NO to the question: Can foreign felons challenge convictions because they were not told of right to contact their consulate? If they answer in the affirmative, that will mean hundreds of felons roaming free while they await new trials to which they will likely never show.
With the way the Supreme Court is increasingly citing the law of other lands and sovereignties in deciding our cases, our hopes and prayers that Supreme Court Justices do the right thing may not be enough.
And it may be the straw that broke the border-hemorrhaging nation's back.
Posted by Debbie on June 5, 2006 12:55 PM to Debbie Schlussel