Law prof Kris W. Kobach, former advisor to the Attorney General on immigration issues, finds some of the more hideous provisions of the current immigration bill.
Like that surprise hidden on page 302 – which would replace the country’s entire bench of experienced immigration judges with pro-immigration advocates.
With a few exceptions, today’s immigration judges (who serve for life) are dedicated to enforcing the law, and they do a difficult job well. This bill forces all immigration judges to step down after serving seven years – and restricts replacements to attorneys with at least five years’ experience practicing immigration law.
Lawyers meeting that description, he notes, are not particularly inclined to enforce the law.
Eeek.
(Via Lucianne.com).
2 Comments
Immigration Judges most certainly do NOT have lifetime appointments. They are employees of EOIR, a sub-agency of DOJ. They serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General. Currently, their job qualifications already include “knowledge of immigration laws and procedures.” Moreover, Kobach is simply wrong when he says that the only group of lawyers with sufficient immigration-law experience to meet this bill’s standard is the immigration defense bar. The obvious other group of qualified lawyers are those working on the other side, for the Department of Homeland Security in the former INS. There is no reason to assume that that pool of lawyers would be disinclined to enforce the law.
One would suppose that might depend on who’s occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue….But points well made.