The possibilities are chilling. The Administration has made it clear that they intend to use every expansive definition and unchecked power given to them by the new law. Novembers Justice Department brief made clear that any of our legal immigrants could be held indefinitely without recourse in court. Earlier in November. the Justice Department went to court to say that detainees who had been held in secret CIA prisons could not even meet with lawyers because they might tell their lawyers about the cruel interrogation techniques used against them. In other words. if our Government tortures somebody. that person loses his right to a lawyer because he might tell the lawyer about having been tortured. A law professor was quoted as saying about the Governments position in that case: "Kafkaesque doesnt do it justice. This is Alice in Wonderland." We have eliminated basic legal and human rights for the 12 million lawful permanent residents who live and work among us. to say nothing of the millions of other legal immigrants and visitors who we welcome to our shores each year. We have removed a vital check that our legal system provides against the government arbitrarily detaining people for life without charge. We may well have also made many of our remaining limits against torture and cruel and inhuman treatment obsolete because they are unenforceable.
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immigrants