June 17, 2009--The Society of American Law Teachers—SALT—sent the Obama Administration recommendations to immediately revise nine categories of immigration policy through executive orders and administrative directives while Congress tackles the task of comprehensive immigration reform. The SALT recommendations result from the accumulated experiences of clinical law faculty operating immigration law clinics in law schools across the country.
“The SALT recommendations acknowledge the need for national security balanced with due process, the rule of law, and human dignity, which are the heart of American jurisprudence,” said Professor Raquel Aldana, co-chair of SALT’s Human Rights Committee, and in-coming co-president of SALT. “Our country’s traditions require that we treat all men and women, and their children, fairly and protect them from exploitation while acknowledging the role immigration has played in the history of our country.”
The nine categories of immigration policy include criminalization of immigrants; federal immigration enforcement policies, including workplace raids, gang-related immigration enforcement, and bus sweeps within our borders; immigration enforcement by local authorities; treatment of immigration detainees; rights of asylum seekers; right to counsel at immigration proceedings; exclusion of intellectuals, poets, artists, and activists for ideological reasons; immigrant labor and worker rights issues; and human trafficking.
Download a pdf of the executive summary and full recommendations.
Comments