The silver lining of observing immigration proceedings in New York City is that, at least here, when ICE lawyers try to deport our loved ones, attorneys are there to help. Every detained immigrant here has access to counsel, which makes all the difference. nytimes.com/2019/08/13/opi…
Because of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, a first of its kind effort to provide universal representation to all incarcerated immigrants in New York, immigrants in NY jails have a 1,100% better chance of staying home than getting deported. vera.org/publications/n… 
ICE is making it harder for lawyers to access their clients by conducting immigration proceedings over video and refusing to bring people to court. This is why a class action lawsuit against ICE was filed for violating the due process of clients. wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takea…
I’m back in immigration ‘court’ but on this day, despite being in NYC, counsel isn't guaranteed. Why? The 19 women on the screen, the shivering group of khaki-uniformed, winter-jacketed ladies, were 1,300 miles away. NYC judges are now deciding the fate of women in Mississippi.
I walked in on a woman pleading to be reunited with her son and husband. ‘You have to ask your lawyer to help you,’ the judge said to her. ‘I can’t get in touch with them,’ she said. But the judge reiterated ‘ask your lawyer.’
The majority didn’t have an attorney which is no accident. “Immigration authorities are targeting Mississippi precisely because access to legal help is so limited."
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
They fled Nicaragua, Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala, China. Some appeared on screen for bond hearings, the majority were asylum seekers with approved credible fear interviews. But that didn’t stop ICE from arguing for larger amounts of bond. “You could escape” the judge would say.
Let’s get something straight: In order for asylum seekers to pass credible fear interviews, they must prove that if they return to the countries they escaped from, their lives would be at risk. The Trump admin doesn’t care, and is keeping them behind bars buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda…
And the apathy extends to ICE attorneys. When a woman on screen made the sign of the cross and started praying before speaking to the judge, they couldn’t contain their laughter. When another was trying to reunite w her stepmother, the only mother she’d had, they didn’t let her.
When a wife wanted to be with her husband who’d lived in the US for 8 years, they kept her locked up. Spending on average 7 min/person, ICE attorneys rejected letters from churches, sponsors, and relatives that proved these women’s ties to the homes they took them from.
And despite all this, when it came time to look into a screen from a cold and isolated jail, every single woman combed her hair with her hands, put on her best face, said good morning, please, thank you and even asked God to bless the judge that was keeping them in prison.
