The Hill: Leaked immigration proposal could affect all foreigners in US

The Hill: Leaked immigration proposal could affect all foreigners in US by Raphael Bernal:

Critics say lowering the bar on deportable offenses to arrests — as opposed to indictments or convictions — would enable authorities to deport non-citizens based on the spot judgment of individual law enforcement officers. ‘There would be a serious due process question. For most minor offenses, even traffic offenses, an individual officer has discretion whether to issue a citation or arrest [a suspect],’ said Barry J. Pollack, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. While foreigners in the country do not have the same political rights as citizens, they do have a right to due process. ‘If this is what is being proposed, it would make any alien a criminal alien,’ Pollack added….Amplifying the definition would provide ICE with a larger sample of foreigners to achieve higher deportation numbers, but it would distract resources from p[ro]secution of dangerous criminals, said Pollack. ‘Rather than removing from the country people who have committed serious crimes, it would result in any alien, regardless of how long they’ve been in the country, being removed for any offense, however minor,’ he said….Pollack said Kobach’s proposal would be ‘of questionable legality’ and would trigger ‘immediate challenges as to whether that policy is lawful.’ ‘There’s certainly an irony that someone who would consider himself a candidate for DHS is not able to put a confidential document in his briefcase,’ said Pollack of the leak.