Thread by @NewSanctuaryNYC

**IMMIGRATION COURT UPDATE**

Long Thread
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Please Share!! It is the only way people will know what is happening in a place shrouded in darkness.

Written by Ambien MItchell, our Accompaniment Coordinator.

#FreeThemAll #ICECeaseandDesist #CloseTheCourts #COVID19

An amplification of the strange and somber scene on city streets can be found inside the city’s immigration courts, which continue to put judges, lawyers, interpreters, support staff and asylum-seekers’ lives at risk 👇🏾 #FreeThemAll #ICECeaseandDesist #CloseTheCourts #COVID19

by forcing them to travel and appear for individual hearings and all detained docket hearings as scheduled in spite of all scientific guidance from public health officials.
#FreeThemAll #ICECeaseandDesist #CloseTheCourts #COVID19

While lawyers may be able to advocate telephonically, pro se respondents & family/friends of folks w/cases scheduled don't have the same privilege, nor are they willing to risk not showing up in support of a loved one in detention or at a final hearing on such a significant day.

Nevertheless, they're met over at 201 Varick Street w/court clerks & other staff doing their best in the face of complete inaction from EOIR to ensure the safety of their staff, the lawyers whose cases are being seen, and all visitors to the building by simply turning folks away.

Never mind the journey you made and the health risks you already took just to show up, only lawyers are being allowed in the courtroom for detained docket cases. #FreeThemAll #ICECeaseandDesist #CloseTheCourts #COVID19

And while this precaution makes sense given the current public health guidance, it also creates a situation in which there is no witness bearing on detained docket cases, an extremely vulnerable population during a public health emergency. #FreeThemAll #CloseTheCourts

A family member we accompanied today and an NSC accompaniment volunteer huddled by the elevator to wait for updates from the lawyer only to hear that the ICE trial attorney had not shown up. #FreeThemAll #CloseTheCourts

Judges, ICE attorneys and the @AILANational AILA all issues a remarkable (and rare) joint statement calling for all court activity to immediately stop on Sunday.

This week we see folks who were forced to go to work anyway on the fly stringing together protocols to keep themselves and their communities safe(r). #ClosetheCourts #COVID19

It feels almost encouraging to witness human beings valuing and caring for one another within a system which blatantly refuses to value or to protect human life. [except @icegov @DOJ_EOIR] #ClosetheCourts #COVID19

While the cessation of all court activity is the only acceptable next step, we must also ensure that all ICE prisoners are released to be able to implement social distancing and the same life-saving guidance we have all been asked to follow.
Please Share! #closethecourts