Date: July 10, 2005 7:55:50 PM PDT
Subject: North Carolina Patriot Act Critic In Jail
Criticizing Patriot Act Lands Manlin Chee, Asian American Lawyer, in Jail
By Yu-Yee Wu
Asian Week, News Report
Jun 29, 2005
Having spent almost three decades offering legal
service to immigrants, Chinese American immigration
attorney Manlin Chee is now getting used to serving
time instead.
Chee had been a nationally recognized lawyer for her
work with immigrants, some of it pro bono, and much of
it for Muslims, but things soured for her soon after
she appeared on a panel discussing the PATRIOT Act in
March 2003.
The public forum at the main library in Greensboro,
North Carolina was televised and attracted a large
audience. Chee argued passionately that the PATRIOT
Act violated the Bill of Rights and threatened the
civil rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens.
"I'll never forget when Manlin joked that she had good
news and bad news for the audience," recalls Tim
Hopkins, an attendee. "She said that the bad news is
that those people taking pictures of the audience are
from the FBI. The good news is that they are coming
after the panelists first. It was prophetic."
Indeed, within weeks the FBI began investigating Chee,
says her attorney Locke Clifford. Clifford says the
FBI had no record of complaints against her. But the
agency began combing through thousands of Chee's case
files. They even went back to her own citizenship
application. The agents interviewed her clients and
employees for over a year, until they indicted Chee for
immigration fraud on June 26, 2004.
It was a dramatic fall for the successful attorney who
once had offices in three cities and thousands of
clients. The American Bar Association awarded Chee its
public service award in 1991, which was presented to
her by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
She also received the 1990 William L. Thorp Pro Bono
Award by the North Carolina Bar Association. The Triad
Business News called her "one of the foremost
immigration attorneys in North Carolina if not the
country."
Many think that it was her political views that caused
Chee's troubles.
"She was outspoken about the impact of the PATRIOT Act
on the Muslim community and American citizens," says
Badi Ali, President of the Islamic Center of the Triad
and Muslims for a Better North Carolina. Chee also
demonstrated her support of the Muslim community by
wearing Muslim garb on Fridays, says Chee's youngest
daughter, Leia Forgay. Forgay says it was symbolic.
"She was letting people know that she will stand with
them figuratively and literally."
However, fellow Greensboro immigration attorney, Gerry
Chapman, questions whether Chee was targeted for her
views. "There are attorneys in North Carolina who have
spoken out against the PATRIOT Act and against
targeting of Muslims, and the vast majority of them
have not been investigated and indicted." He adds that
he thinks Chee overextended herself. "Manlin's got a
good heart, but she was trying to do too much for too
many people."
Attorney Anita Earls, director of Advocacy of the
University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights
in Chapel Hill, points out that ìother immigration
attorneys have engaged in worse practices -- and they
were not investigated." She believes Chee was "singled
out because of a combination of the clients she served
and the fact that she was outspoken in her opposition
to the war."
The FBI's strongest evidence came from two sting
operations, the first one within weeks after Chee had
participated in the PATRIOT Act forum, says Clifford.
The informants posed as needy Muslims. One informant
wanted to pretend he was gay so he could seek asylum,
and the other informant wanted a sham marriage to get
his green card. Chee was indicted for filing papers on
behalf of both.
According to Forgay, the informants wouldn't stop
asking for Chee's help: "My mom told them that there's
nothing I can do, but they kept coming back to her and
she couldn't say no. She always tries to help -- she
went ahead and submitted the papers to try. She would
feel worse if she didn't try."
Chee's former client and good friend, Melinda Macasero
agrees. "Manlin had a hard time when she first came to
the U.S., so she knows how hard it can be," Macasero
says. "If you're an immigrant and you're a client of
hers, she would go the extra mile to help."
Says Clifford, "Manlin never said no to anybody and the
FBI probably said to themselves that if we run someone
in there with a sad story, Manlin will probably take
the bait."
Chee now admits she was "foolish" for succumbing to the
sham entreaties. She describes one informant as being
"intimidating," constantly calling, going to her
office, and badgering her when she avoided filing the
papers for months. Feeling "pushed" and suffering from
an anxiety disorder, Chee finally relented under the
pressure.
"Manlin did have some depression," says her close
friend, Amelia Leung. "Her mental health does affect
her sense of judgment sometimes."
During Chee's prosecution, a diverse group of community
members rallied around her and formed the Manlin Chee
Defense Committee, taking out a full-page ad in the
local paper in her support (see sidebar). Notably
missing, however, was a public outcry from the local
Chinese community.
Meiling Yu, cultural promotion director of the
Greensboro Chinese Association, says her organization
just didn't know enough. "Because the charges are
about her practice, which we are not familiar with, we
didn't feel we had enough information to speak out in
support of her." She notes the impression that Chee
was targeted for her outspokenness, but as a
nonprofit, they did not feel they could make a
political statement.
"I can understand why they wouldn't speak out," says
Macasero. "You are dealing with the government, and
[people] are afraid they are going to get in trouble."
Ultimately, Chee pleaded guilty to the charges from the
stings. Her daughter Leia, insists Chee pleaded guilty
to keep her family together. The FBI had also indicted
and charged Chee's oldest daughter, Chernlian, because
she was a paralegal in Chee's office. Chernlian, who
has an upcoming wedding, decided to cooperate with the
prosecution: She would get probation if she pleaded
guilty, but she would have to testify against her
mother.
The anger in Leia's voice is palpable when she
discusses the effect of her sister's decision. "My mom
did the selfless thing and pleaded guilty to keep our
family from tearing apart because she felt that this
was a time when we needed to stick together. ... The
hardest thing is not living without my mom, but living
with the tension in the house because of my older
sister and what happened."
Chee, however, fought all charges involving her work
for real clients. Calling those charges
"horsefeathers," Chee states, "I would rather rot in
jail than to plead to charges where I prepared
documents like every other lawyer in the country."
Immigration expert Ira Kurzban agreed, testifying at
Chee's sentencing hearing that her labor certification
filings were like those of other attorneys.
Chee never went to trial. The federal prosecutor
suddenly dropped all remaining charges against her,
after she decided to plead guilty. On March 3, 2005,
Judge James A. Beaty sentenced Chee to a year and a
day in prison beginning April 22 at Alderson Federal
Prison Camp in West Virginia, better known as Martha
Stewart's prison. Chee will be unable to attend her
daughter Chernlian's wedding in September.
A former U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights attorney,
Earls believes the government was making an example of
Chee.
"The U.S. Attorney's office was certainly trying to
send a message," she says. "Bringing down someone who
previously had a strong reputation as an aggressive
advocate is much more attractive to the U.S.
Attorney's office than someone who doesn't aggressively
stand up for immigrant rights."
Chee has been on disability inactive status since April
2004 with the State Bar of North Carolina due to her
mental health issues and cannot practice law. However,
her youngest daughter, Leia, seems fiercely determined
to take up her mother's torch and fight for the rights
of immigrants. "Immigrants are often neglected in the
law and in the community," Forgay observes. "You can't
just leave out certain groups just because there are
tensions with their community."
The sixteen-year-old admits that previously, she did
not want to be a lawyer because she hardly saw her
mother, who was working all the time. Forgay has
changed her mind. "Now, after seeing what happened to
my mom, they may be able to stop her, but they can't
stop me from helping people who need it."
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