Meet the Attorneys Fighting a Racist Immigration Law

Adolfo Flores, BuzzFeed News, Dec. 4, 2022

"... The 9th Circuit is set to rule on the appeal of two cases, one of which is [attorney Kara] Hartzler’s challenge of the constitutionality of illegal reentry. A favorable ruling would prevent the government from being able to prosecute immigrants on these charges and put them in jail for months or longer in areas covered by the 9th Circuit. In recent years, illegal entry and reentry were the most prosecuted federal offenses, more so than drug, weapon, and white-collar crimes, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. In November and December 2018, for example, immigration prosecutions accounted for 69% and 65%, respectively, of all criminal prosecutions. ... In court, Justice Department attorneys said that while there was racism behind the enactment of the 1929 laws, the court should focus on the reenacted 1952 version and review it under the standard that gives Congress near-absolute say on immigration matters. ... The 9th Circuit will hear arguments Dec. 8 on the government’s appeal to Du’s ruling, but attorneys and experts said the stakes are high and the decisions could have a wide impact. Cassandra Lopez, an attorney who represented a Mexican immigrant whose case is on appeal before the 9th Circuit, said that if today's Congress has a nonracist reason for the law, lawmakers should make it known in new deliberations on whether to keep it. Because ultimately, she added, hundreds of immigrants still receive federal prison time under what has been proved to be a racist law. “We regularly see people who receive years in prison for what is essentially glorified trespassing,” Lopez said. “They can’t just keep essentially laundering a racially discriminatory law.” ... If the federal defenders prevail in the 9th Circuit, the government would be prevented from prosecuting immigrants for entering the US without authorization in regions under its purview. It wouldn’t stop the deportations, though. And if it happens, the Justice Department will almost certainly appeal to the Supreme Court. ..."