IDP executive director Alisa Wellek is quoted in this December 17, 2015 article on the website Task & Purpose about an upcoming documentary film, “Exiled: America’s Deported Veterans.”
Alisa Wellek is the executive director for the Immigrant Defense Project where she has worked for eight years helping those facing deportation by ensuring they have access to proper legal representation.
Wellek has been working with Bailey to try to overturn his deportation ruling for the last two years. It wasn’t always the case that people were subject to mandatory detention and deportation, Wellek told Task & Purpose.
In 1996, the laws changed to include something called aggravated felonies, which can result in immediate deportation. Wellek explained that “a crime doesn’t have to be aggravated or a felony” to be considered an aggravated felony and can include minor offenses like drug possession. Additionally, in aggravated felony cases, judges have little discretion to weigh the merits of a veteran’s service.
Read the full article here.