Pubdate: Tue, 20 Sep 2005
Source: People's Journal (Philippines)
Copyright: 2005 People's Journal
Contact: http://www.journal.com.ph/contactus.asp
Website: http://www.journal.com.ph/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3381
Author: Fil V. Elefante
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines

FIL-AMS SUE US EMBASSY

A GROUP of naturalized Filipino-Americans have filed a class action
suit against United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and
former US Embassy in Manila charge d'affaires Joseph Mussomeli over
what they called "unlawful policies" on the issuance of immigrant visas.

The suit was filed on August 29 before the US District Court in the
Central District of California by the US law firm Reeves and
Associates in behalf of 24 Fil-Americans,  mostly spouses, who had
sought immigrant visas for their relatives back in the
Philippines.

The plaintiffs claimed that their petitions were denied after medical
tests revealed that their relatives had used marijuana or other
illegal drugs in the past.

"In every case, the US Immigration and Naturalization Service has
sought to deny visa petitions based on one-time or remote in time drug
use based on information obtained (from) the medical exam. These
denials are contrary to law and threaten the public health of US
citizens by compromising the medical exam process," they alleged.

They accused Rice and officials of the US Embassy in Manila of
"ignoring or misinterpreting US laws that set the standards and
criteria for exclusion of immigrants to the United States."

"If the same standards (are) applied to Americans, a high percentarge
of the population would be inadmissable, including two most recent
presidents of the US," said Robert L. Reeves and Nathan Graham, the
plaintiffs' lawyers.

They expressed belief that the use of medical exams to obtain
information against would-be immigrants violated their right to privacy.

The lawyers stressed, however, that they were not challenging the
consular officers' decisions but were merely seeking a clarification
of the policy on the administration of medical tests to applicants.

"By using the medical exams as an interrogation tool, immigrant visa
applicants might be forced to hide medical conditions that may pose a
threat to the US public," they said.

Efforts to reach Matthew Lussenhop, the press attache of the US
Embassy, for comment yesterday failed. 
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