INS Settles 14-Year-Old Rights Lawsuit : Immigrants: Agency agrees to inform suspects of procedures and let them talk with a lawyer before questioning.

In a groundbreaking settlement that ends a 14-year-old federal lawsuit, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials have agreed to provide suspected illegal immigrants with a written notice of their rights and allow them to meet with a lawyer before being questioned.

The settlement was released Tuesday, and although INS officials would not comment on its importance, immigration rights advocates were overjoyed. Peter A. Schey, the lead attorney in the case, called it a historic step and many other advocates agreed.

“We’re elated,” said Valerie Small Navarro, immigrant rights director for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “We see a lot of people who are coerced in this process. This will allow them to exercise their rights.”

If it is made final next month--as both sides expect it to be--the settlement agreement would be in effect for 30 months while the INS studies the impact of the new procedures. Schey said he expects that the procedures will stay in place permanently and warned that his organization or any other group could refile the lawsuit if the INS attempts to back away from the new rules after 30 months.

Although the changes spelled out in the settlement are procedural, immigration reform advocates say they are far-reaching and will help safeguard the constitutional rights of immigrants, many of whom are confused and frightened when they are arrested.

Of particular significance is a “notice of rights” the INS has agreed to give to every person who is arrested. The notice spells out why the arrest was made and what rights the suspects have--including the right to call a lawyer--and informs them that they may have a legal right not to be deported. The notice will be available in English or in the detainee’s native language.

It also warns them not to sign anything until they have read the notice.

“Finally about 1.5 million people arrested by the INS each year will be able to consult legal counsel at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner,” said Warren Leiden, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. “This finally makes it clear that this right (to consult with an attorney) applies to these people, as it does to anyone arrested in a criminal case.”

As part of the settlement, the INS also agreed to include on one of its forms a question asking whether people who have been arrested believe they face harm if returned to their native countries. If they say yes, they will be allowed to pursue claims for political asylum, one of the few ways that illegal immigrants can win legal entry into the country.

Officials at the Office of Immigration Litigation, which represents the INS in lawsuits, were not available for comment. Matthew Jeanneret, a spokesman for the Department of Justice, said the agency would not comment on the significance of the settlement.

The settlement is preliminary, but both the chief lawyer for the plaintiffs and the commissioner of the INS have signed it, so there do not appear to be any remaining obstacles. If none emerge before July, it will be final on July 29.

The 15-page agreement also obligates the INS to pay $200,000 in legal fees.

Tuesday’s announcement marked the conclusion of a case that has been argued since 1978, when Rose Melchor Lopez and 65 other immigrants were arrested during an INS raid on a Los Angeles shoe factory. According to lawyers for the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, Lopez and the others were denied the right to meet with an attorney and were coerced into accepting expulsion from the country.

Schey and other lawyers filed the lawsuit, and Lopez, along with some of her co-defendants, was allowed to stay in the country.

Even after that decision, however, attorneys continued to pursue the lawsuit to test the issue of whether people arrested by the INS have the right to contact an attorney before being questioned by INS agents. Under the terms of the settlement released Tuesday, agents still will be allowed to ask routine booking questions. Name, age, sex, and address in the United States are among the 10 questions that are permitted before the suspect is given opportunity to contact a lawyer.

If the arrested person asks to speak to an attorney, however, the agents would be required to stop their questioning until the person has had “a reasonable opportunity” to contact one. That is defined as two hours, during which the person must have access to a telephone.

The INS also has agreed to post a list of free legal services near the telephones at its holding facilities.

Bracing for the settlement’s final approval, the INS has prepared a memorandum instructing field officers about their new obligations. That memorandum, signed by INS Commissioner Gene McNary, has been accepted by the plaintiffs’ lawyers.

While enthusiastically applauding the settlement agreement, immigrant rights advocates warned that the true test of the reforms will come in the field, not in court.

“It’s one thing for someone in Washington to sign this thing,” MALDEF’s Navarro said. “It’s another for Joe Schmo on the line to carry it out. That’s what we’ll be watching for.”