JAIL VISITS: CAIR Coalition conducts legal rights presentations in rural county jails in Virginia for detained immigrants.  Detained immigrants include asylum seekers, long term residents, and other individuals who have committed immigration violations. After the presentation, volunteers meet with detainees in the facility and distribute relevant informational packets on immigration relief.  In addition, volunteers may collect data that will be used to assess our involvement in their situation.  This is a rare opportunity to meet face to face with detained immigrants, enter a facility, and in certain facilities, meet with senior members of jail administration. You do NOT have to be a lawyer to participate in a jail visit.

REPRESENTATION OF DETAINED IMMIGRANTS: During our jail visits, we encounter individuals in need of representation in their immigration case, including asylum or Convention Against Torture claims. In addition, long term residents detained as a result of crimes committed in the United States require representation to get their “second chance.” Often, individuals have lived in the U.S. since childhood, and have U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident family members. For example, a partner from Alston & Bird represented a Kosovar Albanian with severe mental illness based on reports showing that mentally ill individuals in Kosovo face abuse in mental health facilities tantamount to persecution.

REPRESENTATION AND ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF INDEFINITE DETAINEES:  CAIR Coalition seeks representation for individuals who are detained indefinitely and who are eligible for release under the Supreme Court decision Zadvydas v. Davis.  This case held that the immigration service could not indefinitely detain non-citizens whom it could not deport.  Previously, non-citizens with final deportation orders were detained indefinitely if they were from countries with whom the U.S. had no repatriation agreement (e.g., Cuba, Laos, Vietnam) or if they were stateless.  Zadvydas states that if deportation is not reasonably foreseeable, a person cannot be detained 6 months after a final order of deportation. There are typically several individuals in detention in Virginia who are eligible for release under Zadvydas, but who need attorneys to file habeas corpus petitions in the Eastern District of Virginia and/or advocate for their release before Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s office.  CAIR Coalition has also a prepared a packet of information to assist interested attorneys in preparing these petitions. 

REPRESENTATION AT CREDIBLE FEAR INTERVIEWS:  When an immigrant arrives at an airport without valid documents or with a stated intent to seek asylum, s/he is interviewed by Customs and Border Protection agents.  If s/he expresses fear of returning to the home country because of persecution (based on race, religion, political opinion, social group or nationality/ethnicity) the "credible fear" process is triggered.  This gives asylum seekers an opportunity to articulate their fear to an Asylum Officer and eventually to an Immigration Judge.  When an asylum seeker arrives at BWI or Dulles Airport and is scheduled for a credible fear interview, the Arlington Asylum Office contacts CAIR Coalition to arrange for representation at the interview. 

CONTACTS:

Representation, Credible Fear Interviews                                Jail Visits

Bradley Jenkins                                                                         David Perechocky

(202)331-3320 x19                                                                     (202)331-3320 x17

bradley.jenkins@caircoalition.org                                                david.perechocky@caircoalition.org