BY HARRY RING
LOS ANGELES - The Justice Department was defeated in a first attempt to use the reactionary 1996 anti-immigrant law to grease the skids for deportation of political dissidents.

In a January 13 ruling, Federal Judge Stephen Wilson rejected a government motion based on the new law that he dismiss a suit against the government by the Los Angeles Eight. The L.A. 8 - seven Palestinians and a Kenyan - have charged the government with unlawful, selective prosecution. For 10 years, the government has been trying to deport them for their political support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Previously, Judge Wilson had issued an order blocking deportation of the eight while they were conducting their suit against the government.

The Justice Department filed a brief arguing that judges were barred from taking such actions under the new "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act."

A government lawyer argued that in passing the law, Congress clearly intended to curb the right of federal courts to intervene in deportation proceeding. After a deportation order is issued, he advised, it could be considered by an appeals court. Judge Wilson flatly rejected this, endorsing the argument by L.A. 8 attorney David Cole that it would "close the door" to any meaningful appeals. He also agreed with Cole that the selective prosecution suit has a higher priority than other kinds of claims because the case is based on First Amendment rights.

Earlier, Wilson had been upheld in his landmark ruling that legal residents have the same free-speech rights as citizens.  
 
 
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