Sunday, January 20, 2008

Victor Toro: Next Immigration Hearing Set for Aug. 15

The US government's efforts to deport Chilean-born New York activist Victor Toro have been delayed at least until Aug. 15. At a hearing before an immigration judge at the New York Federal Building on the morning of Jan. 18, Toro's lawyers said they were seeking political asylum for their client; Toro fled Chile in the 1970s after being imprisoned and tortured by the US-backed Pinochet regime. The judge scheduled the next hearing for Aug. 15 to allow time to review the case carefully.

Click below for coverage by the New York Spanish language daily El Diario-La Prensa on Jan. 19. (Note that while the article correctly describes the proceeding as a hearing--"audiencia"--the headline calls it a trial--"juicio." People think of a trial as a criminal proceeding, but it is important to remember that this was just an administrative hearing to determine whether the US can deport Toro. Being in the US without status is not a crime but a civil offense, like jaywalking.)

http://www.eldiariony.com/noticias/detail.aspx?section=17&desc=Locales&id=1796188

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