The Nation : U.S. Plan Would Deny Hearing to Aliens

The Justice Department is studying a proposal that would allow authorities to summarily exclude aliens seeking political asylum without giving them a hearing before an immigration judge, officials said. Under a plan drafted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, specially trained INS hearing officers would conduct informal proceedings to consider an alien’s claim for asylum status. One critic of the proposal said it would “obliterate fairness and due process” for asylum seekers that is now provided by immigration law. The proposal, which is still under study, would “provide for summary exclusion of aliens who seek asylum at ports of entry who fail to make a credible showing” of eligibility, according to an internal Justice Department analysis of the plan.