Federal prosecutors are being pushed to go around immigration courts by Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, as part of the tough strategy on deportations pursued by the Trump administration. Prosecutors are pushing immigrants to sign away their legal rights in return for being allowed to make a case on why they should be able to stay in the US.
Among the most dramatic instances are immigrants signing plea agreements in return for promising that they have no reason to be afraid of being sent back to their home nations, agreements that could prevent them from later making claims for asylum. Although some plea agreements of this nature have been used before, defense attorneys fear that, under Sessions, they could become common practice, and that prosecutors may try to push for them even for minor offenses that would not ordinarily result in a deportation order.
Immigration experts are not only questioning the fairness of including such provisions within plea agreements but also whether they are constitutional, with some claiming that they violate international treaties. Attorney, Susan Church, who was among the first to challenge the executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in court, says that the risk of abuse is heightened by the leverage held during plea-bargaining by prosecutors.
Church says she has grave concerns over the elimination of the small amount of due process given in immigration court, and that such matters should not be used as part of plea agreements.