Ripped from the Headlines

Rights Groups Criticize Speedy Deportations

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 — As the Bush administration rapidly expands its efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants, human rights groups warn that people fleeing persecution are increasingly vulnerable to being deported to their home countries.

In 2005, a bipartisan federal commission warned that some immigration officials were improperly processing asylum seekers for deportation. The commission made recommendations to ensure that the system of speedy deportations, known as expedited removal, had adequate safeguards to protect those fleeing persecution.

But one year later, only one of the commission’s five recommendations has been put into effect. Meanwhile, domestic security officials have expanded the expedited removal program, in which illegal immigrants are swiftly deported without being allowed to make their case before an immigration judge.

Read the full article at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/20/politics/20asylum.html 

KJ