An Attempt to Intervene in the Confusion: Standing Requirements for Rule 24 Intervenors

Abstract

Suppose you live near a minimum-security, short-term facility used by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to house aliens awaiting processing, exclusion, or asylum.' You discover that, contrary to representations by government officials, many of your "neighbors" are convicted felons who have completed jail sentences in the United States and are awaiting a determination of their alien status. A group of these aliens then start a riot in which forty escape from the facility. You fear that more convicted felons might escape into your neighborhood. You then learn that an elected official is suing the Department of Justice over the situation. You later discover, though, that much of his suit centers not around the danger to innocent citizens, but on a political matter. In addition, given the problems encountered by other members of Congress in trying to gain standing to sue in similar cases, 2 you are concerned that the case will not get into court on the strength of the official's stake alone. As a result, you, along with some other homeowners, try to intervene in the suit. Your application to intervene meets the requirements for permissive intervention under Federal