LOS ANGELES : Judge Rejects Bid by INS to Back Out of Settlement
A federal judge in Los Angeles rejected an attempt by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to back out of a settlement in a longstanding immigration case Tuesday, calling the government’s motion “frivolous” and “without merit.”
U.S. District Judge Matt Byrne sternly rebuked Steven Valentine, a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice, for filing the unusual motion, in which the government argued that it should be allowed to withdraw from an agreement it had signed because of public statements by lawyers for the other side.
Under the agreement, INS would be required to give people arrested by the INS a revised notice of their rights. That notice would inform arrested people of their right to meet with a lawyer, and agents would be required to stop their questioning for two hours if the arrested person asked to consult with a lawyer first.
Immigration rights advocates called the agreement “historic.” But the government accused the plaintiffs’ lawyers of exaggerating its importance.
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