Topics: *Beltway Bulletin*, *Immigrants and Migrants*, FEATURE STORY Date of Elert: March 17, 2006 Elert title: Immigrants May Lose Access to the Courts: Court Stripping Provision in Arlen Specter's Immigration Reform Bill Prompts Rally by Advocates Immigrants may lose access to counsel and to the courts if Congress enacts either of the immigration reform bills championed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN). Both the Frist bill and the Specter bill, which the Senate Judiciary Committee currently is considering, would strip the federal circuit courts of jurisdiction over immigration appeals by redirecting the roughly 12,000 immigration appeals heard each year into the Federal Circuit Court in D.C. The Federal Circuit currently specializes in patent cases. Only three new judges would be added to that court -- too few, advocates say, to handle the complex and life-altering issues that arise in challenges to deportation and other decisions rendered by the Bureau of Immigration Appeals. Advocates caution that immigrants would also have great difficulty both in getting to the D.C. court and in finding enough lawyers willing to travel to the court since representation often is provided pro bono. Rebekah Diller, Associate Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, says, "These bills are being drafted too hastily, without any opportunity to examine the real-life consequences for the thousands of immigrants seeking court review each year and for the justice system." She explains that the immigration review process has come under intense scrutiny recently, and that the quality of agency decision-making has declined over the past several years. In January 2006, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales publicly criticized immigration court judges for "intemperate or even abusive" conduct toward asylum seekers. In a recent letter, the Brennan Center urged Senator Specter to defer any switch to the Federal Circuit until after the various administrative reforms in the current bill go forward. The Brennan Center's letter to Senator Specter is available at www.brennancenter.org. Both bills also create a "certificate of reviewability" requirement, preventing judicial review of any case unless a Federal Circuit judge, within 60 days of filing of the judicial action, makes an affirmative decision to allow the case to go forward. If the court declines to hear the appeal, or takes no action in the 60 days, the case will be automatically dismissed. The Specter bill also would entitle the government to use secret evidence against asylum seekers. The chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has spoken out against the bill, as have advocates across the country. Emily Chiang, Associate Counsel at the Brennan Center, adds, "If this bill passes in its current form, it will deny immigrants the counsel they urgently need and throw the courts into disarray. At a minimum, Congress should hold public hearings before so radically altering the federal court system." Based on original reporting by Brennan Center staff. More information available on request.