Political Quotes

“our Nation's commitment to due process has been placed in doubt by the use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings. Until recently, the Department of Justice's use of secret evidence was not well known to the general public. Secret evidence was known only to some immigrants who have been held for months, sometimes years, without any opportunity to confront their accusers or examine the evidence against them. As the Washington Post of October 19, 1997, put it, the process is authorized by: [A] little-known provision of immigration law in effect since the 1950s allows secret evidence to be introduced in certain immigration proceedings. The classified information, usually from the FBI, is shared with judges, but withheld from the accused and their lawyers. The use of secret evidence in immigration proceedings threatens to violate basic principles of fundamental fairness. The only three Federal courts to review its use in the last decade have all found it unconstitutional. Yet the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the INS, continues to use it and to do so virtually without any limiting regulations.”