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Attorneys and
legal workers representing persons detained in immigration worksite
raids should be aware of two provisions of a permanent injunction that
apply nationwide to nationals of El Salvador detained by immigration
authorities. Advocates in California and Massachusetts have
successfully used these provisions to prevent the transfer of
Salvadorans apprehended in worksite raids to distant detention centers,
far away from their family and available low-cost or free legal
services. As described in more detail below, the injunction in
Orantes-Hernandez v. Gonzalez, No. 82-01107 MMM (VBKx) (C.D.Cal.
Nov. 26, 2007) (modified, consolidated injunction), contains two
provisions that (1) require immigration authorities to provide a phone
number where relatives and counsel may obtain information about the
location of detainees, and (2) restrict the transfer of detained class
members to locations outside of the district of apprehension.
Advocates who find that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
is not fully complying with these requirements should contact the class
counsel listed below.
Designated Phone Number.
Paragraph 6 of the injunction requires that ICE designate regional phone
numbers that relatives and counsel may call to obtain information
regarding detained class members. ICE’s webpage currently titled “Information
for Families of ICE Detainees” contains a link to a list of ICE’s
Detention and Removal Operations (DRO)
field offices,
which includes for each office the office director’s name, the office’s
address and phone number, and the geographical area for which the office
is responsible.[*] Under the injunction, a Salvadoran detainee’s
relative or attorney who calls a DRO field office during normal working
hours and provides the detainee’s name to the ICE officer who answers is
to be informed of the detainee’s current location. If
the detainee is scheduled for departure from the U.S., the inquiring
individual should also be informed of the date and time and the place
from which the detainee is scheduled to leave. If an attorney informs
the officer that he or she wishes to communicate with a detained class
member who is scheduled for voluntary departure and has not been able to
do so, ICE “shall not expel the plaintiff class member until such
counsel has had a reasonable opportunity for such communication.”
Advocates have had difficulty obtaining timely information through this
phone system, and if you are unable to obtain detainee location
information within the same business day that you call, please contact
the class counsel listed below.
Restrictions on Transfer. Paragraph
11 of the injunction provides that immigration authorities “shall not
transfer detained class members who are not represented by counsel from
the district where they are apprehended for at least seven (7) days,” in
order to give them an opportunity to obtain counsel. Class members who
have or obtain counsel may be transferred outside of the district
during the seven-day period, but in such cases the venue for the
deportation or removal case remains in the district, and the class
member must be returned to the district sufficiently in advance of any
proceedings to allow him or her to consult with counsel. ICE must
return the class member to the district “within a reasonable time after
receiving a request to do so from the detainee’s counsel.”
A full copy of the injunction as currently
in effect is available
here.
Attorneys and legal workers who find that
ICE is not fully complying with these requirements should contact the
counsel for plaintiffs listed below:
[*] The “Information
for Families of ICE Detainees” webpage also can be accessed from
a link at the bottom right-hand corner of ICE’s
home page, www.ice.gov. |
