老澳门开奖结果 and CAIR Coalition File Federal Lawsuit Challenging Lack of Fair Hearings for Immigrants
BALTIMORE 鈥 The 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of Maryland, and Capital Area Immigrants鈥 Rights (CAIR) Coalition filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the Trump administration鈥檚 failure to provide fair hearings to people in immigration detention.
The case was filed on behalf of immigrants in detention in Maryland, but challenges policies that apply nationwide.
Many of these individuals, including asylum seekers, were denied release without the government ever having to justify their imprisonment, in violation of their rights to due process under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Others were found eligible for release as they await their immigration proceedings, but are currently detained solely because they lack the financial resources to buy a bond for their freedom, in violation of their rights under the Due Process Clause and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
鈥淲hen the judge announced that she was setting the bond for $20,000, I was shocked,鈥 said plaintiff Jose de la Cruz Espinoza. 鈥淢y wife and children were also very upset. We knew that we could never pay that amount.鈥
鈥淜eeping people locked up because of their financial status and other inequities is bad enough. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be a death sentence for anyone trapped in detention,鈥 said Michael Tan, deputy director of the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Immigrants鈥 Rights Project.
Immigrants often face bond hearings without legal representation, are provided no explanation of how the process works, and face language barriers. In addition to wealth-based discrimination, many are unconstitutionally being forced to bear the burden of making their case for freedom, rather than placing that burden on the government as to why their detention is even warranted.
鈥淧roving whether a person who has immigrated to the United States should be locked up, along with setting a bond amount according to what an immigrant can pay, are supposed to be responsibilities of the government, not the individual. In a just court system, what we expect to find are these basic, fundamental rights because they are a part of our Constitution,鈥 said Nick Taichi Steiner, staff attorney at the 老澳门开奖结果 of Maryland.
鈥淯nnecessary civil detention wrought by unconstitutional bond procedures, especially with COVID-19 present in ICE facilities, is just plain wrong. All we鈥檙e asking for is fairer procedures. The immigration court should make the government prove why a person鈥檚 deprivation of liberty is warranted and consider a person鈥檚 ability to pay when setting a bond amount. When a judge sets a bond and has decided a person should not be detained, then a person鈥檚 inability to pay should not keep them behind bars,鈥 said Jenny Kim, senior attorney for the CAIR Coalition.
The case, Miranda v. Barr, was filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, Md.
Complaint: /legal-document/miranda-v-barr-complaint