Detention
So-Called ‘Smart Enforcement’ Cuts Corners on Immigrants Rights
In a March 29 meeting with immigration advocates that I attended, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chief John Morton asked to be judged on ICE’s record, not on rumors. But that’s just why I’m concerned. At a hastily called meeting following the leak of a memo setting quotas for non-criminal removals, Morton repudiated the February 2010 memo, but not earlier “performance standards” which set numbers for identifying and removing non-citizens in jails. He claimed that the law required him both to fill—not just have available—33,400 detention beds a day and to implement the 287(g) program, a voluntary arrangement which shifts immigration enforcement authority to state and local police. This was a surprise to the advocates in the room, since the law authorizes, but does not require, ICE to fill detention beds or impose state and local agreements. Read More
Tip of the ICEberg
The irony of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acronym—ICE—has never been lost on anyone, including the agency itself. Shortly after its formation, posters appeared in government offices of an iceberg as big as the one that sunk the Titanic with the motto: ICE---What you see is just the tip of the iceberg. The idea was to emphasize just how much ICE did and how much of it went on quietly and behind the scenes. Read More
ICE Assistant Secretary Stakes his Legacy on Detention Reform
Today at the Migration Policy Institute, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), John Morton, outlined his vision for immigration detention reforms which he hopes will mark his time and tenure at ICE. In particular, Morton emphasized the need for detention facilities that are designed specifically for immigration detention purposes as opposed to converted prisons. His vision is to redesign facilities to look like civil detention centers rather than criminal jails. While detention advocates welcome the intention of Morton’s new goals, the question remains as to whether ICE is capable of implementing these much needed changes after years of less than favorable reports about the immigration detention system and a flurry of articles by Nina Bernstein in the New York Times detailing some of the problems in the system. Read More
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Intersection of Immigration and Civil Rights
Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a man whose dream of equality and human rights changed the course of history. His legacy will be remembered this week by people of all colors and creeds who still believe in the American dream and who continue to fight for equality, civil rights and the basic human dignity they deserve. Over the weekend, thousands of human rights activists took to the street in Phoenix, Arizona, to march for civil rights and for “long-overdue federal action on immigration.” Read More
ICE Detention Cover-Up Has Advocates Calling for Transparency
Despite claims of increased transparency, accountability, and oversight, Nina Bernstein of the New York Times has unearthed more cover-ups at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These new findings have attorneys, advocates, and the public wondering if and when ICE will make good on its promise to reform the immigration detention system in demonstrable ways. Two issues that have recently come to light cast doubt on these promises. Read More
Napolitano Looks for Comprehensive Way Forward
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano testified in an oversight hearing today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. While reinforcing her commitment to securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws in smart and effective ways, Napolitano also reaffirmed her commitment to immigration reform as a way to strengthen our immigration enforcement policies—a commitment that includes, as Secretary Napolitano notes, responsibility and accountability from everyone involved: Read More
Transforming the Role of Immigration Enforcement through Immigration Reform
For years, the U.S. government has tried and failed to curb undocumented immigration through enforcement-only tactics at the border and interior raids. The number of Border Patrol Agents has increased substantially over the past years—as have budgets and technological investment at the border—yet none of these increases have resulted in a significant decline in the undocumented population. In fact, we have the largest undocumented population in our nation’s history. Simply enforcing the woefully outdated and ineffectual immigration laws currently on the books is not working. Many immigration enforcement experts—including DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano—agree that the only way to solve our immigration enforcement problems is through comprehensive immigration reform. Read More
ICE Transferring Detainees Impedes Their Access to Counsel and Limits Their Right to Present a Defense to Deportation
Two recent reports draw attention to yet another defect in the government’s problem-ridden detention system: ICE’s practice of regularly transferring immigration detainees from one jail to another, often far from where ICE initially arrested them. Transfers have a devastating effect on a person’s ability to retain counsel and maintain an attorney-client relationship; present a defense to deportation; and obtain release from detention. The government should take immediate steps to eliminate these effects and ensure that people who are detained are afforded a fair hearing. Read More
DHS Interprets Law to Detain Refugees Across the Country
Last month, President Obama authorized the admission of 80,000 refugees into the U.S. in fiscal year 2010, something every President has done annually since passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. The United States has long recognized the importance of providing a safe haven for refugees. Beginning with laws granting refugee status to displaced persons after World War II and culminating with the comprehensive Refugee Act of 1980, the U.S. has sought to safeguard those who are unwilling or unable to return to their homeland based on a “well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Read More
The Right to a Remedy for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Immigrants reasonably rely on their lawyers’ advice, and they expect their lawyers to be knowledgeable about immigration law and procedure. They count on their lawyers to be their voice in immigration court when facing removal and help ensure that they have a meaningful opportunity to be heard. In the great majority of cases, lawyers competently represent their clients’ interests. But what happens in those occasional situations where the immigrant is defrauded by an unscrupulous lawyer, or an otherwise competent lawyer makes an inadvertent mistake that results in the person being ordered removed from the United States? Certainly, a person should not be deprived of the opportunity to present a defense in removal proceedings because of his or her lawyer’s conduct. Read More
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