Miranda-Type Warnings to Immigrants Facing Removal?
Popular culture teaches all Americans about the Miranda warnings that police must give to criminal suspects. Immigration Impact reports on two recent immigration cases argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that raise the possibility of similar warnings in immigration matters.
Last week, the courts heard arguments in two cases (Segovia v. Holder and Miranda-Fuentes v. Holder) addressing when immigration officers should inform noncitizens who are under arrest and facing deportation of their rights under a regulation. Both sides agreed that immigration officers must give noncitizens the warnings required by the regulation—including that their statements will be used against them in immigration court and that they have a right to an attorney if they can pay for one. But the government has also argued that a noncitizen should not learn of his rights until after he already has been interrogated and the government has begun the case against him in immigration court.
Stay tuned as we watch to see how the Ninth Circuit addresses the possibility of a Miranda-style warning to noncitizens held for immigration violations.
KJ