The due process and equal protection clauses embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every "person," and are not limited to U.S. citizens. However, immigrants in detention, many of whom are lawfully present, are routinely denied their constitutional right to a day in court and judges must automatically deport them under current law, regardless of how minor the infractions, how long they have lived here or whether they have a citizen spouse or children.
Additional Resources
Immigrants with Mental Disabilities Deserve Due Process (2010 blog): Ever Francisco Martinez-Rivas, 31, suffers from schizophrenia and hallucinations, and exhibits unexpected patterns of behavior. After getting into an argument with his stepfather that turned violent, he was taken into police custody. Though Mr. Martinez is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and has lived here since the age of 9, current laws allow the federal government to deport Mr. Martinez to his birth country, El Salvador, because he lacks U.S. citizenship.
ACLU Raises Concerns on Senate Immigration Bill; Proposed Legislation Would Harm Privacy, Due Process (2007 press release): The American Civil Liberties Union expressed in March 2007 grave concerns about the due process and privacy implications of the Senate immigration bill. The proposed legislation would create a vast federal database to verify the work eligibility of all job applicants in America - including U.S. citizens; expand indefinite detention; and deny effective judicial review of Department of Homeland Security errors denying immigration status.
Costly and Unconstitutional Bill Would Lead to Unjust and Lifelong Incarceration of Immigrants Without Cause or Due Process (2011 press release): In July 2011, the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) voted out of committee a costly and unconstitutional bill that would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain thousands of immigrants, potentially indefinitely, without due process. The HJC democrats offered many amendments in an attempt to make the indefinite detention bill constitutional. Under the provisions of the bill, called the “Keep Our Communities Safe Act,” many detainees would be deprived of bond hearings before an immigration judge, which are a basic component of justice in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes this bill, H.R. 1932, because it violates both the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings protecting the rights of immigrants against indefinite detention.
Holder Moves To Restore Fairness To Immigration Proceedings (2009 press release): In a major step towards restoring key legal protections for immigrants facing deportation, Attorney General Eric Holder withdrew in June 2009 a last-minute Bush administration order that severely restricted the right of immigrants to reopen immigration cases lost because of their lawyers' mistakes. Holder also stated that he will review the problem of "ineffective assistance" in immigration proceedings to determine whether additional protections are necessary.