US EMBASSY'S BAR-DRUG USERS POLICY QUESTIONED

AT least 25 Filipinos have filed a federal suit in California against
the State Department and the US Embassy in Manila for allegedly using
medical examinations to extract evidence of drug use, a ground for the
denial of visas.

The plaintiffs said only the Embassy in Manila is engaged in the
practice.

The plaintiffs, represented by the US immigration law firm Reeves and
Associates (R&A), said the embassy's policies are "unfair,
heavy-handed and discriminatory."

The case before district court of the Central District of California
was filed on Aug. 29, 2005 but was made public by the plaintiffs only
recently.

Named respondents were Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, US Embassy
in Manila immigrant visa chief Charles Cockburn and former Embassy
charge d'affaires Joseph Mussomeli.

They said the purpose of medical examinations as defined by the US
Centers for Disease Control is only to identify medical conditions.

"This is not a case about admitting drug addicts or drug dealers into
the United States. This case concerns the permanent denial of visas to
persons who have admitted one time experimental use of drugs such as
marijuana, or who admit drug use that is remote in time," said Robert
DuPont of R&A.

"We have studies from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that over
one-half of American high schoolers have experimented with drugs. Even
US presidents have admitted to experimenting with drugs. Congress
never intended youthful experimentation to be a reason to exclude
qualified visa holders," he said.

The law firm believes that officials at the Embassy are instructing
physicians to obtain admissions of past drug use, even
experimentation, and then use that information to permanently bar visa
applicants from entry.

"Physicians are reportedly using deceit and misrepresentation, by
misleading individuals as to the consequences of answering repeated
questions regarding drug use. These actions undermine the whole
medical exam process which depends on trust in a doctor-patient
relationship," DuPont said.

R&A's founder Robert Reeves said they intend to strengthen the case by
adding at least 10 more plaintiffs, bringing the total to 35.

The plaintiffs are Filipino-Americans and their spouses, fiancees or
children whom they are petitioning to enter the US.

"This is a major challenge to the US. This is a major piece of
litigation, very significant, historical," Reeves said. "The (US)
government is confident that it will be dismissed but we're prepared
to take it to a higher court. We have a good case."