Do ICE detainees have a right to due process? Micah Beckwith's immigration comments go viral
Immigration attorneys say this is patently false and an alarming comparison to make.
"He's so absolutely wrong," said Buck Shomo, a longtime immigration attorney in central Indiana.
At the town hall in Vigo County on Aug. 4, an attendee asked whether state leaders would make sure immigrant detainees at Camp Atterbury see due process.
"So due process in this situation is, are you here legally?" Beckwith, a Republican, responded. When pressed about the opportunity to come before a judge, Beckwith added, "They don't have a right to see a judge."
He then asked, "When the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor, did we give them due process?"
During that time, Japanese citizens and non-citizens were forcibly taken to internment camps in a move that later presidencies officially declared unjust. President Ronald Reagan signed a law giving reparations to former detainees.
Beckwith doubled down on his comments when reached by IndyStar on Aug. 8, reiterating that "constitutional rights don't apply to people who are here illegally." But Beckwith said noncitizens should still be treated with "dignity and respect"
"I'm not saying be undignified or treat them with a lack of respect," he said. "But there's a big difference between giving somebody a day in court, paying for a lawyer for them by the people and their tax dollars."
The U.S. Constitution grants due-process rights to all "persons" on American soil.
There are some circumstances where noncitizens may not see a judge, immigration attorney Sarah Burrow said. For example, if a person had received a removal order in the past and then re-enters unlawfully, ICE can reinstate that removal order without the need for another hearing.
There's also a process known as expedited removals. This used to be for people who are found within a certain mile-range of the border and who had only very recently crossed unlawfully. The Trump administration has expanded the application of expedited removals to longer time periods and to any location in the United States, but even so, people placed in this category have the right to request asylum.
Outside of those exceptions, removal proceedings must include a hearing, she said.
"(Beckwith) is making very clear that he believes if you enter this country unlawfully, then you have no right to due process, and that is patently false," she said. "This is sensationalism, it is playing to the base, it's legally incorrect."
Making the comparison to the treatment of the Japanese during World War II is like "saying the quiet part out loud," she said.
"So are they ICE detention facilities or are they internment camps? That would be my question," she said.
In referencing the Japanese, Beckwith said a reason they didn't get due process is that they invaded the country. To Shomo, this comparison also further demonizes immigrants and seems like a "dog whistle."
"To characterize this as an invasion is a cynical way to play on racial fears," he said.
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29 minutes ago
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