After all the sweat and grind a pro bono attorney has put into winning a withholding or removal or Convention Against Torture case, the client is not necessarily finished interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Much of the patterns and practice currently observed depend on the type of relief or release applicable to the client. Click here for Part 1 of this story.
Below are some of the common questions we receive after clients have won their cases:
How long will my client have to check-in with ICE?
This will always depend on the terms of the release or order of supervision, but generally, the trend is a check-in every 6 months, then after one year, a check-in every year, then every two years, and so on and so forth.
Generally speaking, we had almost never seen clients re-detained prior to the executive orders, unless the person had new interactions with the law or has departed the country on their own accord. We provide all our clients with stern warnings not to leave the country even if granted withholding of removal or CAT, as a departure from the U.S. will be considered self-deportation.
Why does ICE require that my client obtain letters from consulates?
As part of the ICE check-in process, your client might be required to obtain letters from other countries, not the home country of your client, confirming that those countries would not be willing to resettle him/her within their borders. By and large, we have not seen these countries agree to provide refuge for clients who were already granted withholding of removal in the United States.
CAIR Coalition routinely provides clients with sample or fill-in-the blank letters that they send, by mail or appointment, to the consulate to confirm they will not be resettled in a third country.
What should my client do if s/he has an order of supervision and has an upcoming ICE check-in?
There are other people who have already been ordered removed, but the home country will not accept them back into the country. The U.S. will release them under an order of supervision so that they can work and live in the U.S. until, when or if the home country agrees to accept the person back. For individuals with orders of supervision, they will have required ICE check-ins.
In April 2017, CAIR Coalition had a client under order of supervision check-in with ICE. To ensure that the individual would not be detained, a CAIR Coalition attorney, along with a religious leader and community member, accompanied him to the check-in. The attorney submitted a G-28 form indicating attorney of record. The attorney confirmed that the home country would not issue travel documents, and so ICE registered the check-in and scheduled an additional check-in 6 months out.
What if my client was granted prosecutorial discretion and has an ICE check-in?
Post-executive order, we have observed in both Virginia and Maryland, that people with prosecutorial discretion have been picked up and detained at the ICE check-in. In March 2017, CAIR Coalition staff saw a mother and her two teenage children detained at a check-in.
The mother fled from her home country over 10 years ago after her partner was shot and she was threatened with death. When she first arrived in the U.S., not knowing the system or having an attorney, she had mistakenly missed a court date as she was settling into the United States, a fact she did not discover until years later. During this time of her missed court date, she had moved to Maryland with her two kids, where she was reunited with her partner after he recovered from the gunshot wounds. They since had a U.S. citizen child who is now in elementary school. All the children are honor roll students. The two teenage children currently have dreamer status, otherwise known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), in the U.S.
In March 2017, she attended her check-in with her two teenage children, who had deferred action for childhood arrivals. The two children and their mother were detained at the check-in even though this was not their check-in, nor is it generally part of the DACA process. The teenagers were released within 24 hours.
The mother was deported within 2 weeks, after being transferred to facilities in the Northeast, Southwest, and then finally staging for deportation in the south.
What are the current trends and likelihood of re-detainment at an ICE check-in?
At this point the pattern and practice of who is being detained at ICE check-ins is unclear.
However:
- It does appear that people with final orders, which have been exhaustively challenged, are being re-detained.
- People with withholding of removal orders appear less at risk of being re-detained, unless there are criminal interactions since the grant of relief.
- Because Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is less resolved, there is higher concern that someone might be detained.
What are your recommendations for my client?
- It is recommended that attorneys attend the ICE check-in meetings with their clients.
- Families should attend ICE check-ins on their own, and not bring others with tentative status.
- Families with final orders of removal should have contingency plans in the event of detention at the ICE check-in.
