« LEADING CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS FILE AMICUS BRIEF SEEKING TO PROTECT THE RIGHT TO HOUSING FOR LATINOS AND IMMIGRANTS | Main | From the Bookshelves: Migration Miracle: Faith, Hope, and the Undocumented Journey »
October 7, 2008
On Second Chances for Aggravated Felons
Among many aspects of immigration law and policy that are troubling, many of us have complained about the harshness of the 1996 amendments that preclude waivers to aggravated felons, even though they may have been longterm permanent residents who have been here lawfully since infancy. Those of us who have represented these individuals and who have practiced long enough to recall the possibility of 212(c) relief for such individuals prior to 1996 understand the importance of a second chance. Our clients made good on that relief, and thereafter led good, productive lives. Recidivism very seldom occurred after that.
The value of getting a second chance is something that we should embrace as human beings. Even cold-hearted Vice-President Dick Cheney recognized that in a 2002 speech he gave at Michigan State University upon receiving an honorary degree:
"One of the things I love most about our country is that we have such opportunities. There are places in the world where failure is final, and one early misstep will decide your fate forever. But America is still the country of the second chance. Most of us end up needing one. And when we've gone on to accomplish something, we can be that much more grateful." His entire speech is here.
bh
October 7, 2008 | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bfae553ef0105356ad22c970c
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference On Second Chances for Aggravated Felons:
Comments
You really think you (and those who think precisely as you do) have a monopoly on goodness, don't you Mr. Hing?
"cold-hearted Vice President Dick Cheney"
Dick Cheney relieved 25 million people of the burden of being ruled by a despotic, genocidial maniac. You, on the other hand, would have sentenced them to a lifetime of abuse.
And you have the audacity to call him "cold-hearted."
Dick Cheney would relieve thousands of innocent infants from the horrors of partial-birth abortion. You, Mr. Hing, would defend an adult human being's right to dash the brains out of these defenseless "untermenschen."
And you have the audacity to call him "cold-hearted."
Mr. Hing, you would do well to heed these words by Albert Einstein:
"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."
Posted by: Peter | Oct 8, 2008 2:14:36 PM
Cheney's second chance platitudes are part of his fixed closing of canned speeches that he gives at universities commencement ceremonies throughout the the nation. A quick check of a quotations search engine, Factiva, reveals a cookie cutter pattern of usage of the second chance speech in speeches before graduates at MSU, BYU, LSU . . .
Oh and, why would the anti-abortion fundamentalist co-opt a pro-immigrant rights blog to spew his cookie cutter damnation attitudes? Seems out of place here. However, it does logically follow that pro-lifers would be pro-immigrant life in terms of human rights.
Posted by: robert sorensen | Oct 9, 2008 9:59:56 AM
Mr. Sorenson,
I am not anti-abortion. I am anti partial-birth abortion. Seems as obvious to me that it should be outlawed despite Roe v. Wade as it is to you (and me) that assault weapons should be outlawed despite the 2nd amendment.
Slippery slope arguments make very bad law.
Look, my point is simply that one man's warm heart is another man's cold heart and it is foolhardy to judge others as if you had a monopoly on warm and fuzzy goodness.
That is, unless you want to hear God laugh?
And any damnation you see on these pages comes entirely from Mr. Hing and Mr. Johnson, co-authors of this "immigration" blog. They use this site as cover for serial attacks on anything Republican, conservative, and pro-border control and regularly fling ad hominems at those with whom they disagree.
Pay close attention and you'll see what I mean.
Posted by: peter | Oct 10, 2008 5:12:36 AM
