Iowa immigration raid case scrutinized

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Justice Department officials who prosecuted hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested at an Iowa meatpacking plant in May used a government-created manual to speed through guilty pleas, a potential violation of the rights of those detained in the raid, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday, reports Nicole Gaouette.

The manual was assembled before the workers were arrested or their lawyers were appointed. It lays out suggested guilty pleas for the arrested workers and specifies how they should waive their legal rights.

It includes detailed scripts for judges and lawyers to recite. One suggests the judge say, ‘I want each of you to state your name, so I’ll know who you are.’ The manual ends with forms for sentencing and deportation.

ACLU lawyers said the scripts and the rapid-fire sentencing procedure had raised concerns that the Bush administration subverted fundamentals of legal justice in its push for an enforcement victory.

Read more on the Government manual here.

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