CA1: venting on immigration

Kim v. Gonzales, 05-2462 (11/16/02) Yesterday, the First Circuit issued an opinion, which concluded with a damning statement of Congress’s patchwork approach to immigration:

It is not the business of the courts to tell Congress what to do about public policy choices, but we are entitled to warn when the machinery that we help administer is breaking down. The current structure of deportation law, greatly complicated by rapid amendments and loop-hole plugging, is now something closer to a many-layered archeological dig than a rational construct. The regime is badly in need of an overhaul.

Unfortunately, the underlying issue seems to be one of those immigration-law nerdery issues that I just don’t get: namely when an immigrant convicted of crime is able to apply for some discretionary waiver.

 On the good side, an enlightened approach to immigration reform might be the one thing that has a chance getting passed in the near future.  DotD comments here.