Michael Mukasey was just given a chance by Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) to talk about one of his favorite topics: the need for Congress to pass a law on Guantanamo detainees who may assert their newly provided habeas corpus rights. Much of the hearing has so far dealt with immigration– the number of Justice Dept. prosecutions of undocumented immigrants is up, up, up. So it makes sense that Mukasey is focusing on his fears that these detainees will get rights accorded to U.S. citizens.
He said that the over 200 detainees sitting at Guantanamo Bay are “people captured abroad in battle conditions with no right to be here and the courts shouldn’t bring them here to be released.” So if the detainee exercises his habeas corpus rights and a U.S. court find there’s no reason that person should continue to be detained, then he should be released– and immediately deported.
Mukasey is confident that Congress will act, citing the authorization of the Iraq War and Protect America Act as examples where lawmakers swiftly and effectively passed law-and-order legislation.
Now the hearing is back to discussing and making sure there’s no way illegal immigrants can vote. Somebody who knew nothing about the Justice Dept. would judge so far from this hearing that the Dept. does little more but prosecute immigrants.