WASHINGTON — Five of the 16 members of the nation's highest immigration appeals board have been asked to find other jobs, congressional and legal sources said, in what critics termed a "purge" by the Justice Department of the most pro-immigrant board members
A spokesman for Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft called such claims "ridiculous" and inaccurate.
The five serve on the Board of Immigration Appeals, a little-known panel with broad powers to review the decisions of immigration judges, decide the fates of people fighting deportation orders and issue authoritative rulings on immigration laws and policies.
"Until the attorney general discloses his reasons for informing these five people that they should seek other work, this has all the appearances of a purge of dedicated civil servants based on a perception of their policy views," said T. Alexander Aleinikoff, who was general counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Clinton administration and now teaches law at Georgetown University.
"There is no purge," responded a Justice Department spokesman. The board is being reduced to 11 members at the end of this month as part of a previously announced streamlining plan, he added.
"No decision will be made until the end of March as to which members are going to be on the board," said the spokesman. "No one has been informed that they are the ones who will not make up the membership."
Other sources identified Noel Brennan, Cecelia Espenoza, John Guendelsberger, Paul Schmidt and Gustavo Villageliu as the five board members who have already been notified that they would have to step aside.
A congressional official and an immigrant rights advocate said they had directly confirmed that the five had been quietly informed in late February.
They were given the option of seeking other Justice Department jobs.
"This sends a signal to the remaining [members] that if you don't toe the line, you could be in jeopardy," said a Senate aide who asked not to be identified. "It is a serious public policy concern, because you want to have an immigration system in place in which the judges are able to exercise independent judgment."
Attempts to reach board members were unsuccessful, and a spokeswoman for the board referred questions to the Justice Department.
The five "are definitely pro-immigrant," said immigration lawyer Lory Rosenberg, a former board member who said she also had confirmed the pending shake-up.
