Photo courtesy of publik15 via Flickr
Did You Know That:
- Detained immigrants have no right to an attorney, even though they can be held in jail for months.
- Immigrant detainees do not have a right to a speedy trial and an immigrant detainee can languish in jail for months, and even years, before his or her case is brought before an immigration court.
- There is no centralized system to find someone in federal immigration custody and often families spend weeks trying to locate loved ones who have literally “disappeared” into ICE’s vast network of detention centers.
- Immigrant detainees can be transferred without notice to a detention facility hundreds or thousands of miles from family and friends making communication extremely difficult and depriving the immigrant of important emotional support as well as the assistance of family in securing legal counsel. Read more facts and statistics.
A National Problem with Community Impact
In the Washington metropolitan area, hundreds of detained immigrants are being held in county jails in Virginia and Maryland. Some of these facilities are in small rural communities, hundreds of miles from the detainee’s family and friends. Many of the immigrants detained in these jails speak little or no English and have no understanding of immigration laws. Only a few can afford to hire an attorney and without any type of legal assistance it is nearly impossible to navigate the complex world of immigration law and even those individuals with good claims to remain in the United States can end up being deported.
What kinds of people does CAIR Coalition help?
Detained immigrants in Virginia and Maryland include recently arriving asylum seekers who have fled their home countries in fear of their lives as well as long-term residents of the United States. They also include individuals suffering from physical and mental illness who lack access to proper healthcare.
They include people like:
- Mr. P, a native of Honduras who has lived in the US for 6 years. When he was picked up by ICE in May 2007, he was already experiencing severe mental health problems. Mr. P and family all agreed that he should go back to Honduras, where extended family members could help nurse him back to health. However, over a year later, Mr. P is still in ICE detention waiting for his first immigration court hearing. His mental health has deteriorated to the extent that he no longer speaks. CAIR Coalition has secured a pro bono attorney for Mr. P who will represent him at his initial court hearing.
- Ms. D, a national of Togo and a member of one of the country’s major opposition parties. In October, 2007, seven armed men came to Ms. D’s home, blindfolded her and then detained her for two weeks. During this time, she was barely fed, kept in deplorable condition, and repeatedly raped. Finally, she managed to escape and flee the country. She arrived at Dulles airport on January 1, 2008. When she stated her fear of returning to her county, she was detained at the airport by the Department of Homeland Security and sent to a Virginia jail. Ms. D won her asylum case with the help of a pro bono attorney arranged by CAIR Coalition
- Mr. K, a native of Vietnam who entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1983 and later became a legal permanent resident. In April 2007, Mr. K was arrested and detained by ICE on an old criminal conviction. Diagnosed with AIDS and suffering from mental illness, Mr. K was barely coherent and suffered from delusions when CAIR Coalition staff first met him in a county jail in Virginia after he had been detained for nearly a year. CAIR Coalition helped to secure Mr. K’s release from jail on humanitarian grounds and located a medical facility in Washington, DC, that was willing to accept him. CAIR Coalition, in partnership with a law firm, continues to assist him with his case.
Our Purpose
As long as detained immigrants have no right to government appointed counsel, as long as those fleeing for their lives and seeking a safe haven in the United States continue to be locked-up, as long as those suffering from physical or mental illness continued to be denied medical treatment, as long as long term residents of the United States with strong roots in the community continue to be arrested and detained in record numbers, CAIR Coalition will do everything possible to defend the rights of the immigrant community.
With your help, we will make jail visits, we will find pro bono attorneys, we will advocate for alternatives to detention and we will work to insure that all immigrants are treated with fairness, dignity and respect for their human and civil rights.