Can an army of lawyers stop Trump's mass deportations?
A group of prominent Mexican officials, legislators, and other political figures wants Mexico to resist President Trump鈥檚 deportation plans by assigning lawyers to fight cases in US immigration court, utilizing tough legal tactics that could jam up the workings of an already backlogged system.
Monarca, as the group is named 鈥撎齛fter the monarch butterfly that travels freely between Mexico and the United States 鈥撎齣s meeting with immigrant-rights groups in Phoenix on Saturday to discuss details of the plan. They also hope to meet with the city鈥檚 mayor and Sen. Jeff Flake (R) of Arizona, long active in talks for a comprehensive immigration reform, .
Mexican President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto, who hasn鈥檛 taken a position on the plan, says his administration will take steps to defend its citizens living in the US, including allocating $50 million to help undocumented immigrants facing deportation. But Monarca鈥檚 plan could be the most pointedly obstructionist of any measure suggested.
"The backlog in the immigration system is tremendous," former Mexican foreign minister Jorge Casta帽eda, a group member and New York University professor, told the Journal. Lawyers deployed to deportation cases could听double or triple the existing backlog of cases "until Trump desists in this stupid idea," he said.
The idea puts a spotlight on an immigration court system which, unlike the US criminal system, has no constitutionally guaranteed right to an attorney. According to a , only 37 percent of people facing deportation nationwide 鈥撎齛nd just 21 percent of Mexicans 鈥撎齢ave legal representation.
Monarca is making an unusual bet:听that lawyers could slow down the process to such an extent that mass deportations would become unworkable 鈥撎齩r, seen another way, that a court system geared toward deporting may not function if immigrants can have their day in court.
Mr.听Casta帽eda told the Journal that funds would go toward bail payments as well as lawyers, who should litigate court delays as violations of due process.听That tactic, he acknowledged, could require those facing deportation to wait in detention centers for months as their cases unfold.听
But the deployment of legal representation could make all the difference for countless men and women. According to the AIC study, only 2 percent of immigrants without a lawyer won the right to stay in the country.
Monarca's efforts parallel those in major Democratic-led cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and New York, where authorities have either created or allocated additional funding for immigration public-defender services after Trump's election. Legislators in California have proposed establishing a state-wide fund, 听
Other options being explored by Monarca, according to Casta帽eda, include requiring US immigration authorities to provide documentation proving deportees鈥� Mexican nationality before pushing them across the southern US border.
"We want to be friends," Mexican Senator Arturo Zamora told the Journal, "but in the face of continued hostility we don鈥檛 have to keep a friendly attitude forever."
