07/03/2025
A Quiet Reminder: Immigration Law, Human Rights, and Due Process 一个安静的提醒：移民法、人权与合法程序仍然存在
Today, our office represented an asylum seeker at the San Francisco Immigration Court. Given the current climate, where individuals are being detained even when appearing for their hearings, our client came fully prepared for the possibility of being taken into ICE custody. He preferred that outcome over receiving a final order of removal in absentia.
To our relief, ICE did not appear. More importantly, the Immigration Judge listened attentively to the claim, issued clear guidance, and allowed the client to return with additional supporting documentation. It was a reminder that, even within a difficult system, due process still matters, and can happen.
This experience brought me back to a broader reflection.
There is often a debate about whether immigration is a legal privilege or a human right. Under international law, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, people have the right to seek asylum if they face persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. While countries do have the sovereign right to control their borders and enforce immigration laws, that right coexists with legal and moral obligations to protect the vulnerable.
Critics may argue that people should “just follow the law” or that "you wouldn’t open your house to strangers." But a country is not a private residence; it is a legal entity bound by domestic and international obligations. The right to request asylum is not the same as the right to enter freely—it is the right to be heard, to be considered, and to be protected if one qualifies under the law.
What we witnessed in court today was not idealism, it was a small but meaningful exercise of lawful procedure and human dignity.
今天我们办公室在旧金山移民法庭为一位寻求庇护者出庭辩护。在当前移民执法趋严, 按时出庭者都有可能被ICE拘留的背景下，这位当事人宁愿面对被拘留的风险，也不愿意被缺席下达递解令。
幸运的是，ICE当天并未出现在法庭。更重要的是，移民法官认真听取了当事人的陈述，给予了明确的指示，并允许他回去补充更多支持性文件。这一过程提醒我们，即使在艰难的体系中，正当程序(Due Process)依然有可能实现，而且依然重要。
这次经历让我重新思考一个更广泛的问题：
移民到底是法律赋予的特权，还是基本人权？
根据《1951年日内瓦公约》和《世界人权宣言》第十四条，凡因种族、宗教、国籍、政治观点或特定社会群体身份而遭受迫害的人，有权寻求庇护。各国虽然拥有主权权利来管控边境并执行移民法律，但这一权利必须与其在法律和道义上保护弱势群体的义务并存。
有些人认为：“人就应该遵守法律，不应非法入境” ；也有人说： “你不会让所有陌生人进你家，国家也不该这样做。” 但请注意但国家并不是私人住宅，而是一个受到国内法和国际法共同约束的法律实体。申请庇护的权利并不等于自由入境的权利，而是被聆听、被审查、在符合法律标准的情况下获得保护的权利。
我们今天在法庭上所目睹的，并不是理想主义的表现，而是一次小但意义重大的对合法程序与人类尊严的行使与落实。
