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Heidi Altman Profile picture
@heidiraltman
Apr 18, 2018 • 21 tweets • 11 min read • Read on X
The admin is rolling out policies to weaponize the immigration court system, and in a few minutes the Senate Judiciary Cmmtte will be asking questions of the court system’s director. I’ll be live tweeting throughout. A few things to know at the outset: judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/stren…
(1) Last week, DOJ announced it will be terminating two programs that give basic legal orientations to immigrants facing deportation without representation. #SaveDueProcess #SaveLOP
washingtonpost.com/local/immigrat…
(2) DOJ also recently announced it will be imposing case quotas on immigration judges, a move slammed by current and former immigration judges as a “disaster” that will only slow down case processing and tank judicial efficiency
latimes.com/politics/la-na…
(3) These are only two in a series of policy moves that are jeopardizing the
ability of immigrants to get lawyers, access basic due process rights, and
access asylum and other protections. #SaveDueProcess
We’ve tried to put it all in one place here: immigrantjustice.org/research-items…
The hearing room is packed @NIJC @CAIRCoalition @verainstitute @AILANational @immcouncil @josh_bernstein @claudia @UDCLaw @UMDLaw
.@JohnCornyn is introducing the hearing. "Many agree our immigration courts need to change." Cites the staggering 680,000 case backlog in the imm courts. Refers to his home state of Texas where people have to wait an average of 884 days for a hearing.
@DOJ_EOIR Director McHenry opens with testimony noting the challenges facing immigration courts and then immediately betrays a political agenda by praising the imposition of case quotas on imm judges, a move opposed by his own judges' union. thedailybeast.com/new-quotas-for…
As Dir. McHenry explains that immigrants are entitled to an attorney at their own expense, seems a good time to remember that more than 4 out of 5 detained immigrants cannot access a lawyer to represent them in immigration court.
americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/acces…
.@SenatorDurbin questions McHenry about LOP. McHenry says, "We have not shut down or terminated the program" but will instead "pause." @NIJC and other LOP providers know what that means: termination. Programs will shut down, attorneys will lose their jobs. immigrantjustice.org/press-releases…
.@maziehirono refers to imm judge quotas as treating judges like they're on an assembly line. One former imm judge says the plan constitutes "an attempt to undermine judicial independence and compel immigration judges to look over their shoulders ..." washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeff-…
.@maziehorono reminds us that kids in court don't have appointed counsel. GAO rep Rebecca Gambler testifies that when people have representation in court, "it does help them move through the process more efficiently." washingtonpost.com/world/national…
A lot of misleading and confused questions about yesterday's SCOTUS decision in Dimaya. Good explainer here from Dara Lind at Vox.
.@amyklobuchar asks if Dir. McHenry would commit to re-start LOP if a new review shows benefits. He says basically, sure. Reminder: a 2012 DOJ study of LOP showed cost and efficiency savings. Also there is absolutely no reason the program must be stopped to allow for a study.
Audible surprise in the hearing room that there is no e-filing in the immigration court system. @amyklobuchar says it brings her back to the days of running to court with paper filings. Says not having efiling is a "symptom" of the imm court system dysfunction.
.@SenatorDurbin brings it back to LOP, asks how people will learn about the imm court system w/out it. McHenry says imm judges give advisals of rights. This is ridiculous. Due process demands SO much more than a minimal recitation of rights from the bench #SaveDueProcess #SaveLOP
Second panel starting now: witnesses ABA president Hilarie Bass, Imm Judge and president of the IJ union Ashley Tabaddor, and former Imm Judge Art Arthur who is a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, an SPLC-designated hate group. More about CIS: splcenter.org/fighting-hate/…
.@ABAPresident speaks forcefully to proper role of the judge, which doesn't in any way replace LOP or help desk programs. "Why would you terminate the ability of people who neither speak the language nor have access to counsel to have an understanding of basic legal rights?"
National Assoc. of Imm Judges Pres. Ashley Tabaddor testifies that EOIR's placement under DOJ fractures the very foundation of the immigration court system. She identifies the fundamental problem: operating a court system under a law enforcement model.
On behalf of imm judges union, Judge Tabaddor slams DOJ imposition of case quotas. Says judges "cannot possibly be viewed as impartial" when decisionmaking is impacted by job security concerns. "The end result will be an increase in the backlog and a complete loss of integrity."
Art Arthur is asked how to fix the imm court system and answers "detention." So, to translate: jailing asylum seekers. Which ICE already does in historically alarming numbers. The hearing becomes a riff on extremist anti-immigrant policy wish lists. immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/7-r…
Hearing adjourned. I'll be walking out with @NIJC client Roberto, a refugee who won asylum in the United States after spending five months in detention, with pro bono lawyers from Jones Day helping him navigate two different immigration courts and complex laws. #SaveDueProcess

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More from @heidiraltman

Heidi Altman Profile picture
Sep 25, 2020
THREAD: Today the House @OversightDems published shocking findings of its investigation into ICE jails run by private contractors. @RepRaskin: "An epidemic of medical neglect & mistreatment at detention centers has caused undue suffering & even death.” 1/ oversight.house.gov/news/press-rel…
This report is hard to read. It gives example on example of abuses committed by ICE, CoreCivic & GEO w/ intentional cruelty, and reminds us how many previous reports uncovering the same abuses have gone completely unaddressed by ICE and its contractors. 2/ oversight.house.gov/news/press-rel…
The Committee investigated Mr. Huy Chi Tran's death at the Eloy detention center. Mr. Tran never got the medication he needed for mental illness and was put in solitary. After Mr. Tran died, a guard falsified records to cover up his failure to monitor Mr. Tran before he died. 3/
Read 8 tweets
Heidi Altman Profile picture
Mar 24, 2020
New: On the @NIJC website we've compiled what our legal teams are hearing from their clients in ICE jails during the time of COVID-19. Trends: no soap, no hand sanitizer, reckless transfers; people are scared, learning about the pandemic from TV news. 1/ immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/ice…
Across the board our clients are reporting practices by ICE that directly contradict the warnings and guidance of public health experts. @NIJC clients report they are given no cleaning supplies and must pay money for soap through commissary. 2/ thehill.com/opinion/crimin…
NIJC and so many other legal service providers are trying desperately to ask ICE to do the right thing. We've contacted ICE and local immigration jails by mail, email, and phone. No response. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Heidi Altman Profile picture
Mar 19, 2020
ICE has run its detention system with cruelty and abuse for so long we shouldn't be surprised, but this is abhorrent. Public health experts are unanimous: ICE should be releasing as many people as possible. They're not. thedailybeast.com/ice-says-it-ha…
Thank you @attackerman for lifting up voices from behind bars. A man in an ICE family jail: "Most of the people here are women & children, many of whom are already sick or not eating well. We are all worried that if the virus reaches this detention center, many people could die."
The administration is championing their xenophobic policies at the expense of reason, compassion, and the greater good. Read public health experts here urging ICE to act *now* and release as many people as possible, for the health of all our communities: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Heidi Altman Profile picture
Jan 21, 2020
Today @NIJC @TransLatina_C & 80+ human rights orgs are demanding that @ICEgov release all transgender immigrants from its jails. Our letter follows one sent last week by @RepMikeQuigley and 40+ reps. This demand is urgent. This THREAD explains why. 1/
immigrantjustice.org/press-releases…
@NIJC @TransLatina_C @ICEgov @RepMikeQuigley First: Release is required by congressional directive. The report accompanying the 2020 spending bill tells ICE it can only detain trans immigrants if it complies w/ its own 2015 directive. ICE is not in compliance (willfully indifferent to the safety of those it detains). 2/
@NIJC @TransLatina_C @ICEgov @RepMikeQuigley Second: Release is urgent because every day that ICE continues to jail transgender immigrants is a day when their lives and safety and wellbeing are compromised. 3/
psmag.com/social-justice…
Read 7 tweets
Heidi Altman Profile picture
Oct 25, 2019
New ICE data: >15,000 of the ~50,000 people in ICE jails are people the gov't already found to have a credible claim or persecution or torture. That's 15,000 people ICE should be releasing to be w/ loved ones during their cases, per ICE's own guidance. 1/ ice.gov/detention-mana…
My @NIJC colleagues are blogging about the human cost of ICE's abandonment of discretion over who it jails and for how long. Read here about Margaret, only 18 and stuck in jail for months despite a family longing for her and a winning asylum claim. 2/ immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/get…
@NIJC And read here about Sebastien, who fled paramilitary groups in Nicaragua to find safety in the United States, but was greeted by a jail cell he could not escape simply because his family couldn’t afford the exorbitant bail set by the judge. 3/ immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/get…
Read 4 tweets
Heidi Altman Profile picture
Oct 3, 2019
Thread: It’s day 3 of the U.S. gov’t running under a Continuing Resolution (CR). ICE is expanding its system of immigration jails. People are dying from medical neglect and 1000s are held in remote jails w/out lawyers. It's all connected and Congress has to act. #DefundHate 1/
A CR is supposed to continue ICE at *flat* funding carried over from its 2019 spending bill. In 2019, Congress funded ICE to jail approximately 45,274 people daily. ICE reports they have 51,302 people in jail as of the end of FY2019. 2/
If history is any guide ICE will continue to expand under a CR through a mechanism called an “exception apportionment” that allows ICE to basically borrow ahead and never pay it back. This is what they did under last year’s CR and during the shutdown. buzzfeednews.com/article/hameda… 3/
Read 14 tweets

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