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Judge, jury, and cop; the Border Patrol's new powers.


SINCE 1996 THE U.S. Border Patrol's "expedited removal" procedure has allowed it to ship illegal immigrants home from airports and seaports This is a list of the world's seaports: Atlantic Ocean

Main article: List of ports and harbours of the Atlantic Ocean
  • Accra, Ghana
  • A Coruña, Spain
  • Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo
 without a hearing before an immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important.  judge. Now this power is being expanded to cover people crossing at the borders with Mexico and Canada.

Bill Strassberger, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security Noun 1. Department of Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security
Homeland Security

executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States
, which runs the Border Patrol, says deportation procedures that could take up to 12 months in the past can be processed in just a few days under the new policy. Many illegal immigrants are confined for months in detention centers while awaiting their court dates. "It's an effective use of the resources to enforce the immigrations laws of the country," he argues. "At the same time, we are protecting the rights of those persons who are seeking protection in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ."

But Eleanor Acer, director of the asylum program at Human Rights First, says the expedited process cannot adequately protect the rights of asylum seekers. "It's destined des·tine  
tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines
1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic.

2.
 to fail," she says. "It has no meaningful safeguards. This change gives border patrol officers the power to act Like judges." In 2000 her group published "Is This America?" a study of expedited deportation in U.S. airports that cited many abuses as well as mistaken deportations of asylum seekers, businesspeople, and American citizens.
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Title Annotation:Citings
Author:Metchis, Hanah
Publication:Reason
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Nov 1, 2004
Words:218
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