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- [ NATION, Page 53American NotesIMMIGRATIONSuing for Amnesty
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- When Congress passed its landmark amnesty bill in 1986, it
- was considered a triumph for illegal aliens seeking to
- normalize their status. But the act contained limited
- provisions for individuals to appeal the handling of their
- cases by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Last week,
- by a 7-to-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the law did
- not bar broader legal challenges to INS policies and practices
- that are deemed unfair and illegal.
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- The decision came in a class action filed on behalf of
- several thousand Haitian farm workers in Florida. The suit
- attacked flawed INS procedures, including the failure to
- provide transcripts and Creole translators during amnesty
- interviews. The ruling is expected to benefit more than 100,000
- other illegal aliens around the country whose representatives
- have been trying to haul the INS into court. Said victorious
- lawyer Ira Kurzban, echoing the view of other experts: "It's
- probably the most significant immigration case in the last
- quarter-century."
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