Every wave of immigration into the United States has faced fear and hostility, especially during times of economic hardship, political turmoil, or war:

In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of our nation's first immigration laws, to keep out all people of Chinese origin during the "Red Scare" of the 1920s, thousands of foreign-born people suspected of political radicalism were arrested and brutalized; many were deported without a hearing. In 1942, 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were interned in camps until the end of World War II.

It is true that the Constitution does not give foreigners the right to enter the U.S. But once here, it protects them from discrimination based on race and national origin and from arbitrary treatment by the government. Immigrants work and pay taxes; legal immigrants are subject to the military draft. Many immigrants have lived in this country for decades, married U.S. citizens, and raised their U.S.-citizen children. Laws that punish them violate their fundamental right to fair and equal treatment.

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Robert Ratliff is one of the Country’s most dedicated post-conviction and criminal defense attorneys. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where he received a B.A. and the University of Cincinnati Taft College of Law where he received his Juris Doctorate, Mr. Ratliff has practiced law in the State of Ohio and Alabama and has appeared in State and Federal courts throughout the United States. Mr. Ratliff is admitted to practice before all Federal Courts of Appeal, the United States Supreme Court and numerous District Courts.

Mr. Ratliff is a tireless advocate of the constitutional rights of individuals. He has represented people charged in criminal matters throughout the United States and overseas. At every opportunity Mr. Ratliff has fought for the rights of individuals and against the oppression of the Government. Mr. Ratliff is also the publisher and author of the monthly newsletter, Ratliff’s Law Review which has provided attorney’s, inmates and their families with concise and updated legal analysis on today’s most important criminal defense developments.*

*The following language is required pursuant to Rule 7.2, Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct: No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.