Mexican government bars entry of alleged abuse victim’s lawyers for violating immigration laws

Mexico City, Mexico, Oct 15, 2006 / 22:00 pm

The Mexican government has barred a group of lawyers from the US from entering the country after the attorneys, who are representing their plaintiff in a sex abuse lawsuit against Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City, violated Mexico’s immigration laws.

Jeffrey Robert Anderson, Michael George Finnegan, and David Gerad Clohessy have been barred entry into Mexico for five years for carrying out professional business in the country when they were issued only tourist visas.  The lawyers are representing a Mexican citizen who claims Cardinal Rivera was involved in an “international conspiracy” to cover up alleged cases of clerical sex abuse.

Mexican authorities said the lawyers entered Mexico on September 19 with tourist visas.  “Nevertheless, the next day they gave a conference in which they presented themselves as the legal advisors to a third party and as lawyers of the legal firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, without having received authorization to carry out a professional or for-profit venture in the country.”

Anderson, a St. Paul attorney, has made a living off of sexual abuse victims, representing 1,000 people over 24 years in sex abuse cases involving clergy members and has been a key figure in the U.S. legal battles on the issue, the AP reports.