HRW slams U.S. immigration policies

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress must do more to ensure immigrants facing deportation have access to all the benefits of the legal system, Human Rights Watch said.

The rights advocacy group in an 88-page report on the practices of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency complains the detention policies for immigrants facing deportation amounts to "a chaotic game of musical chairs."

"And it's a game with dire consequences since it may keep them from finding an attorney or presenting evidence in their defense," said Alison Parker, deputy U.S. director for Human Rights Watch and author of the report.

HRW says the ICE shuffles detainees from major U.S. cities to remote detention centers where immigrants are far removed from lawyers, evidence and witnesses that could influence their deportation proceedings.

"Immigrant detainees should not be treated like so many boxes of goods, shipped to the most convenient place for ICE to store them," added Parker.

The HRW report singles out the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which covers the south-central states, as earning a reputation for hostility toward immigrants and immigration attorneys.

While recognizing transfers are part of the ICE process, HRW called on U.S. lawmakers to make sure detainee rights are preserved.