As for Diallo, he wasn't denied rights as a noncitizen that many American Blacks aren't denied. There is a lot of racism, but that doesn't mean taht there is a special exception in the 14th amendment or Titlve VII for noncitizens.
As for our awful immigration laws, Ia m highly aware of these, but please note what I wrote: you cannot be denied acess to a lawyer to protect the rights you have. Immigrant noncitizerns have a different legal status with respect to remaining in the country than citizens, but even there, not beinga ble to afford a lawyer to protect the derisory rights nonresident aliens have puts them in no different boat than poor citizens.
I will note that there is one exception to the rule that aliens and citizens are pretty much treated equally well or badly by US law that I can think of, there may be others. The Antiterrorsim and Effective Death Penatlyu Act (I believe) provides for secret evidence, i.e., evidence that a defendant cannot confront and rebut, in certain sorts of terrorism cases involving aliens.
In a message dated 00-03-26 15:40:56 EST, you write:
<< JSK (a lawyer) wrote:
> In
> the US, noncitizens cannot vote, for example, but they cannot be arbitrarily
> jailed, tortured, shot, discriminated againsi on account of race or gender,
> prevented from contracting,. denied recourse to the courts to protect the
> rights they have, etc.
I hope I'm not taking at face value a message that was intended to be
ironic, but what about the thousands of immigrants stuck in INS jails in
horrendous conditions, waiting for a decision on their status as immigrants?
They often are denied access to lawyers, interpreters, etc. Arbitrary
decisions are made every day by low-level INS clerks who can reject an
entire family on a whim. It seems to me that as non-citizens these people's
rights are denied every single day.
And as far as non-citizens not being "arbitrarily jailed, tortured, shot",
I'm sure poor Amadou Diallo, shot 20 times by police officers here in NY,
and not a citizen, will appreciate the irony. >>