IRLI Files Brief in Ninth Circuit to Affirm Expedited Removal of Criminal Illegal Alien

Press Releases

May 26, 2017

Ensuring the safety and security of our communities

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) has filed an amicus curiae brief (attached here) in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on behalf of the Trump Administration in a prosecution of a repeatedly-removed criminal alien who claims his expedited removal violated his constitutional rights. Under U.S. immigration law, aliens can be expeditiously removed if they are caught within 100 miles of the border and have been in the U.S. 14 days or less.

In the case of United States v. Peralta, Rufino Peralta-Sanchez claimed his expedited removal was unfair under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment because he did not have a lawyer in the proceeding. The district court and three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit disagreed. Peralta has now petitioned the full court to reconsider the rulings, except he now broadly asserts that all noncitizens in the U.S. have a due process right to counsel in expedited removal proceedings.

IRLI’s Director of Litigation Chris Hajec commented, “Anti-borders antagonists[w1] want to turn this case into a major cause.” “They seek a ruling that all aliens who are caught sneaking across the border are entitled to consult a lawyer. This would gum up the works and slow the rate of removals – just the results the antagonists want.”

“Fortunately, however,” Hajec continued, “the court can’t hear this broad challenge. As we point out in our brief, Congress has curtailed the court’s jurisdiction in this area. All the full court could hear, if it decided to review the case, is a narrow challenge involving the facts of Peralta’s particular case. But as we argue in our brief, such narrow issues don’t merit review by the full court.”

For additional information, contact: Olivia de la Peña • 202-232-5590 • [email protected]

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