If the Immigrant wants an Open Hearing, Let Him have it

  The paper tells me the that now the caravan migrants are here, "the next steps in their journey will unfold mostly out of public view."
  Guess why.
   "The courts often conduct business behind closed doors," says the Associated Press story. "Files are not public, and unlike criminal or civil courts, access for journalists and others is limited."
   If I were one of the immigrants, I would demand my case be open to the public. I'd read them from the Sixth Amendment. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial."
  Yes, I would say, I know this isn't a criminal prosecution. It's an immigration hearing, which is different. Still, if you would, I would like my case to be open to the public. With the interest there has been in our caravan, and with the right the public has to know what is going on, it just seems the right thing to do to keep this hearing open. This is a public matter and it should be open to the public.
   Now, there might be some of the cases where the immigrants do not want their cases to be open. Their lives might be in jeopardy back in their home countries, and details of who is after them and who might kill them might only add to the danger they are in.
   Let the immigrant, then, make the choice on whether the hearing is open.