Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Human Rights Watch: Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart
Families
________________________________________
Human Rights Watch: Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart Families
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
April 27, 2016
Clinton-era immigration laws "have subjected hundreds of thousands of people
to arbitrary detention, fast-track deportations and family separation,"
Human Rights Watch says in a new report [3].
The rights group says two 1996 immigration laws signed by President Bill
Clinton have created a system in which refugees and migrants face detention
and fast-track deportation without adequate consideration from U.S.
authorities.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the U.S. Congress to repeal provisions in
these two laws.
President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act,
or AEDPA, in 1996. Human Rights Watch says the legislation "greatly expanded
the grounds for detaining and deporting immigrants, including long-term
legal residents," authorizing for the first time fast-track deportation
procedures, which are now frequently used in the U.S.
The law was passed in response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, in which
right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh launched a terrorist attack on the
Alfred P. Murrah federal government building, killing 168 people and
injuring another 680.
AEDPA was ostensibly passed to stop future attacks like this, but it
primarily ended up paving the way for rampant rights abuses for refugees and
migrants, according to Human Rights Watch.
The rights group says the legislation additionally greatly limited the power
of federal courts to consider petitions filed by prisoners who say they were
wrongly convicted, including people on death row.
The other immigrant law signed by President Clinton in 1996 was the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, or IIRIRA. Human Rights
Watch says the legislation "eliminated key defenses against deportation and
subjected many more immigrants, including legal permanent residents, to
detention and deportation."
IIRIRA allowed the government to detain and deport immigrants, including
even legal permanent U.S. residents, for a range of relatively minor,
nonviolent criminal convictions.
The law also made it much more difficult for refugees to apply for asylum,
the rights group says.
In the past 20 years, Human Rights Watch notes it "has documented how these
laws rip apart the families of even long-term legal residents via the broad
swath of criminal convictions considered triggers for automatic deportation
or detention."
The report cites cases of longtime U.S. residents being deported for drug
convictions, even after serving their time.
These two Clinton-era laws have also "helped perpetuate a system of
unnecessarily widespread immigration detention," Human Rights Watch reports.
The report cites a case in which a gay Honduran man fleeing persecution was
detained by the U.S. government for almost a year. The asylum-seeker said he
"felt harassed" and even considered suicide.
The rights group says the fast-track border deportation procedures
authorized by this legislation "deny many asylum seekers a meaningful
opportunity to make their claims, as required by U.S. and international
law."
Today, the U.S. is still using these laws to authorize fast-track
deportations of Central American refugees.
The Obama administration has carried out more deportation removals of
immigrants than any other presidency in U.S. history, leading migrants'
rights activists to dub the president the "Deporter in Chief."
More than 2.5 million people have been deported under Obama-approximately
one-fourth more than under former President George W. Bush.
Some of those being deported by the U.S. have been refugees fleeing violence
[4] in Central America. An investigation [5] found that, from January 2014
to October 2015, up to 83 refugees and migrants the U.S. deported back to
Central America were killed.
In its latest report, Human Rights Watch cites a case in which an El
Salvadoran woman who feared that local police in collaboration with a gang
were going to kill her and her family was subjected to a fast-track
deportation.
Rights groups have said [6] they are "appalled" and "outraged" at U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's raids, detentions and deportations of
families who fled violence in Central America.
U.S. immigration courts have issued [7] more than 10,000 deportation orders
for unaccompanied Central American minors who have entered the country since
2014.
Human rights experts say [8] the U.S. government's deportations of child
refugees is likely illegal.
"Twenty years of unjust detention, deportation and family separation is 20
years too much," explained Alison Parker, co-director of the U.S. program at
Human Rights Watch, in the report. "Let this be the last anniversary for
these terrible laws."
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [9].
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Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
[11]
________________________________________
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/immigration/bill-clintons-shameful-legacy-immigratio
n-terrible-laws-he-signed-rip-apart-families-and
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton-0
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3] https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/25/us-20-years-immigrant-abuses
[4]
http://www.salon.com/2016/03/04/they_are_refugees_u_s_government_deporting_c
entral_american_migrants_who_fled_extreme_violence/
[5]
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/12/obama-immigration-deportation
s-central-america
[6]
http://www.salon.com/2016/01/04/rights_groups_appalled_outraged_as_obama_adm
inistration_begins_mass_deportations_of_central_american_refugees/
[7]
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/02/29/us-immigration-courts-i
ssue-10000-deportation-orders-to-central-american-unaccompanied-minors/
[8]
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/12/cruel_deportations_of_kids_u_s_and_u_k_are_s
ending_child_refugees_back_to_where_they_may_be_killed/
[9] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Human Rights Watch:
Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart Families
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
Home > Human Rights Watch: Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart
Families
Human Rights Watch: Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart Families
By Ben Norton [1] / Salon [2]
April 27, 2016
Clinton-era immigration laws "have subjected hundreds of thousands of people
to arbitrary detention, fast-track deportations and family separation,"
Human Rights Watch says in a new report [3].
The rights group says two 1996 immigration laws signed by President Bill
Clinton have created a system in which refugees and migrants face detention
and fast-track deportation without adequate consideration from U.S.
authorities.
Human Rights Watch is calling on the U.S. Congress to repeal provisions in
these two laws.
President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act,
or AEDPA, in 1996. Human Rights Watch says the legislation "greatly expanded
the grounds for detaining and deporting immigrants, including long-term
legal residents," authorizing for the first time fast-track deportation
procedures, which are now frequently used in the U.S.
The law was passed in response to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, in which
right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh launched a terrorist attack on the
Alfred P. Murrah federal government building, killing 168 people and
injuring another 680.
AEDPA was ostensibly passed to stop future attacks like this, but it
primarily ended up paving the way for rampant rights abuses for refugees and
migrants, according to Human Rights Watch.
The rights group says the legislation additionally greatly limited the power
of federal courts to consider petitions filed by prisoners who say they were
wrongly convicted, including people on death row.
The other immigrant law signed by President Clinton in 1996 was the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, or IIRIRA. Human Rights
Watch says the legislation "eliminated key defenses against deportation and
subjected many more immigrants, including legal permanent residents, to
detention and deportation."
IIRIRA allowed the government to detain and deport immigrants, including
even legal permanent U.S. residents, for a range of relatively minor,
nonviolent criminal convictions.
The law also made it much more difficult for refugees to apply for asylum,
the rights group says.
In the past 20 years, Human Rights Watch notes it "has documented how these
laws rip apart the families of even long-term legal residents via the broad
swath of criminal convictions considered triggers for automatic deportation
or detention."
The report cites cases of longtime U.S. residents being deported for drug
convictions, even after serving their time.
These two Clinton-era laws have also "helped perpetuate a system of
unnecessarily widespread immigration detention," Human Rights Watch reports.
The report cites a case in which a gay Honduran man fleeing persecution was
detained by the U.S. government for almost a year. The asylum-seeker said he
"felt harassed" and even considered suicide.
The rights group says the fast-track border deportation procedures
authorized by this legislation "deny many asylum seekers a meaningful
opportunity to make their claims, as required by U.S. and international
law."
Today, the U.S. is still using these laws to authorize fast-track
deportations of Central American refugees.
The Obama administration has carried out more deportation removals of
immigrants than any other presidency in U.S. history, leading migrants'
rights activists to dub the president the "Deporter in Chief."
More than 2.5 million people have been deported under Obama-approximately
one-fourth more than under former President George W. Bush.
Some of those being deported by the U.S. have been refugees fleeing violence
[4] in Central America. An investigation [5] found that, from January 2014
to October 2015, up to 83 refugees and migrants the U.S. deported back to
Central America were killed.
In its latest report, Human Rights Watch cites a case in which an El
Salvadoran woman who feared that local police in collaboration with a gang
were going to kill her and her family was subjected to a fast-track
deportation.
Rights groups have said [6] they are "appalled" and "outraged" at U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's raids, detentions and deportations of
families who fled violence in Central America.
U.S. immigration courts have issued [7] more than 10,000 deportation orders
for unaccompanied Central American minors who have entered the country since
2014.
Human rights experts say [8] the U.S. government's deportations of child
refugees is likely illegal.
"Twenty years of unjust detention, deportation and family separation is 20
years too much," explained Alison Parker, co-director of the U.S. program at
Human Rights Watch, in the report. "Let this be the last anniversary for
these terrible laws."
Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter
at @BenjaminNorton [9].
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Report typos and corrections to 'corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx'. [10]
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.[11]
Source URL:
http://www.alternet.org/immigration/bill-clintons-shameful-legacy-immigratio
n-terrible-laws-he-signed-rip-apart-families-and
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/ben-norton-0
[2] http://www.salon.com
[3] https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/25/us-20-years-immigrant-abuses
[4]
http://www.salon.com/2016/03/04/they_are_refugees_u_s_government_deporting_c
entral_american_migrants_who_fled_extreme_violence/
[5]
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/12/obama-immigration-deportation
s-central-america
[6]
http://www.salon.com/2016/01/04/rights_groups_appalled_outraged_as_obama_adm
inistration_begins_mass_deportations_of_central_american_refugees/
[7]
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2016/02/29/us-immigration-courts-i
ssue-10000-deportation-orders-to-central-american-unaccompanied-minors/
[8]
http://www.salon.com/2016/02/12/cruel_deportations_of_kids_u_s_and_u_k_are_s
ending_child_refugees_back_to_where_they_may_be_killed/
[9] http://twitter.com/benjaminnorton
[10] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on Human Rights Watch:
Bill Clinton's Immigration Laws Ripped Apart Families
[11] http://www.alternet.org/
[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
