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“We hope to have a delegation of volunteers to visit Hutto in the very near future,” says Megan H. Mack, Associate Director of the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration (see flyer pasted below).

Mack expressed the hope in a Jan. 17 email forwarded by Jay J. Johnson-Castro.

Although the results of the ABA visit to the T. Don Hutto prison camp for immigrants will be confidentially reported to Immigration and Customs Enfocement (ICE), Johnson-Castro said it will serve notice “that Chertoff & the ICE Company will not forever conduct such immoral and criminal acts in secret.”

In other immigration activism news, Farmers Branch– the Texas city that has passed ordinances naming English the official language and tightening citizenship restrictions on housing–will be getting attention from activists soon. In an updated schedule for a border caravan planned for early February, Johnson-Castro and fellow organizers added a Valentine’s Day stop in Farmers Branch.

Also the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is one group calling for a major march at Farmers Branch on April Fools Day.

Voters in Farmers Branch will be asked to vote on the citizenship-for-housing ordinance on May 12. The law was to go into effect Jan. 12, but has been restrained by court order. The English language resolution was passed during Nov. 2006. *****
flyer from ABA

THE DETENTION STANDARDS IMPLEMENTATION INITIATIVE

WE NEED YOU TO HELP MAKE THIS INITIATIVE A SUCCESS!

The American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Immigration has undertaken the Detention
Standards Implementation Initiative (Initiative). The Initiative is an innovative national effort by the
organized bar to contribute to the consistent implementation of the Standards which govern legal access issues at all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE – formerly the Immigration and
Naturalization Service or INS) detention facilities and other facilities detaining immigrants and asylum
seekers. Under the auspices of the Commission on Immigration, Initiative participants will visit and
tour facilities and produce an official report for the ABA to share with ICE, specifically looking at the
implementation of the four legal access standards.

As a result of 1996 immigration law amendments that mandated the detention of certain immigrants
and asylum seekers, ICE now detains more than 200,000 people annually at over 300 sites, the majority of which are county and local jails. Immigration detainees are the fastest growing group of people incarcerated in the United States. In 2006 ICE will receive $3.7 billion for immigration law
enforcement, including detention and removal. The Detention Standards are the result of negotiations
between the ABA, the Department of Justice, the former INS, and other organizations involved in pro
bono representation and advocacy for immigration detainees. The Standards, which took effect in
January 2001, are comprehensive and encompass a range of issues including access to legal services and
materials. The four legal access standards concern visitation, access to legal materials, telephone access,
and group presentations on legal rights.

As a key stakeholder in developing the Standards, the ABA is committed to their full and effective
implementation. In a spirit of cooperation and collaboration with ICE, the ABA’s Commission on
Immigration has launched this special Initiative to visit, tour, and report on observations of the facilities
across the country with a special focus on the four legal access standards. The organized bar is in a
unique position to contribute to ICE’s implementation of the Standards at facilities nationwide.

The ABA’s Commission on Immigration is recruiting lawyers, law firms, and bar associations to
participate on a pro bono basis in special delegations to tour and report on various detention facilities’
implementation of the Standards, with an emphasis on the four legal access standards. Delegation
leaders will be responsible for organizing a team of up to six volunteers for a facility visit and tour;
researching the local detention situation; visiting the detention center; and producing a report on the
delegation’s observations for the ABA for advocacy purposes. The ABA will report back to the
delegation on ICE’s response for appropriate follow-up.

Through participation in the Detention Standards Implementation Initiative, the organized bar and
attorneys can help facilitate access to counsel and fair treatment for detained immigrants and asylum
seekers.

If you, your firm, or your bar association is interested in participating in this Initiative

Please contact Megan Mack at
202-662-1006 or mackm@staff.abanet.org
American Bar Association
Commission on Immigration
740 15th Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

Statement delivered by Jane Van Praag to County Commissioners Court, Jan. 23, 2007. Also, see Daniel K. Lai’s report on the meeting for the Taylor Daily Press.

We understand that the contract between Williamson County and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is up for renewal on January 31.

I am here to express my opposition to the renewal of this contract.
It is a moral wrong to imprison children. It is morally wrong to imprison whole families with children without exhausting all the alternatives, which would allow families to stay together while ensuring immigrants attend their immigration hearing.

Even Congress, when appropriating the money for this facility, stated: “The Committee expects DHS to release families or use alternatives to detention such as the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program whenever possible.” (House Report 109-079 – DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2006).

I urge the Commissioners’ Court to hold ICE accountable and request that ICE prove it is complying with what Congress intended. We need to know if ICE has exhausted all of the alternatives to detaining these children and families before you renew this contract.

There is only so much that can be done to the T. Don Hutto facility to make it more humane. At some point it becomes clear that it’s still a prison, with bars on the doors, where people are not free to go where they choose, and where children can only go outside at an assigned time.

That is why I am asking you to invite ICE to explain in a public and transparent way why the alternatives to imprisoning families in this way are not being used, before you renew this contract for another year.

If ICE needs more time than is available before the contract with CCA expires, I encourage you to extend the CCA contract for an additional 120 days only and give notice that you intend to terminate the contract with ICE unless ICE publicly explains what alternatives to prison they have tried and why they are not able to implement any of the alternatives to imprisonment.

The voters of Williamson County deserve to know that the federal facilities in their county are operated consistent with what Congress intended.

Letter Charges Immigration Authorities with Unlawful Detention; Reveals Feb. 8 Deadline for Report to Senate Committee about Hutto Family Prison

By Greg Moses

“We will be filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Western District of Texas for Hanan, Hamzeh, Rodaina, Maryam, and Faten and a separate petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Northern District for Salaheddin,” says New York immigration attorney Joshua E. Bardavid today in reference to the Ibrahim family of Richardson, Texas who were abducted and jailed by USA immigration authorities in early November.

On January 24, 2007, Bardavid and his mentor Theodore N. Cox sent to the Department of Homeland Security a request for release of the Ibrahim family. Bardavid has supplied us with a pdf of the request; however, since the electronic file contains exhibits of family travel documents, Bardavid asks that it not be posted out of respect for the privacy of the Ibrahim family. Here is a summary:
In the request for release, Bardavid and Cox argue that the lawful period for detaining and deporting immigrants is within a six-month period following a final order of removal. Since that order of removal was officially filed on August 24, 2004, attorneys argue that the lawful period for detention and deportation has long expired.

Furthermore, say Bardavid and Cox, there is no likelihood that the Ibrahims can be sent back to Palestine. According to the Oslo II accords, Palestinian families may only return if they meet specific conditions (“individuals who left with valid travel documents that were pre-approved by he Palestinian authority, in possession of current. validly issued Palestinian identity documents”) that the Ibrahims do not fulfill.

Neither do the Ibrahims pose any risks to the USA or to their neighbors, says the attorneys. So there are no special circumstances to warrant the family’s detention:

“Their time in the Palestinian Territories and time in the United States demonstrate that they are nothing short of upstanding, productive, well-respected members of any community in which they live. Their continued detention is unlawful in that the purpose of the detention – civil (to effectuate removal) – no longer exists.”

In fact, argue Bardavid and Cox, the special circumstances that do exist in the Ibrahim case are ones that support the immediate release of the family:

“Hanan Alhai Ibrahim is currently pregnant. The stressful and unhealthy conditions in prison endanger the health and wellbeing of both Mrs. Ibrahim and her unborn child.”

Quoting remarks made by President George W. Bush when he signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004, attorneys argue that not only is the detention of Mrs. Ibrahim unlawful, but that the detention of her unborn son “is a direct violation of the spirit of the law.”

“In signing this bill into law, President Bush explained that it ‘reinforced the circle of compassion’ and reaffirmed our Government’s and society’s commitment to a ‘a culture of life.’ ”

As for the children already born into the Ibrahim family, attorneys argue that their ages are a special circumstance that counts in favor of release:

“Aged five to fifteen, the emotional impact and devastating long-term psychological harm caused by prolonged detention cannot be underestimated. The same holds true to Mr. and Mrs. Ibrahim’s youngest child, age two, who has been separated from the family and placed into foster care as a direct result of this unlawful detention.”

Even if the Ibrahims were being detained within the allowable six month period, attorneys Bardavid and Cox argue that immigration authorities have not yet provided evidence that they conducted a proper custody review.

“Here, to the best of counsel’s knowledge, ICE has not conducted a single review of Respondents’ current detention. Because ICE has failed to do so, they are in violation of the laws and regulations governing detention, and continued detention is invalid.”

Additionally, argue Bardavid and Cox, the detention of the Ibrahims is a violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the USA Constitution, including a right to family unity.

“Distilled. the case law establishes that a fundamental right exists for parents and children lo maintain their bonds and ongoing relationship as a family unit free from government action that destroys that family unit.”

In fact, Congressional concern about the treatment of families has resulted in a demand by the Senate Appropriations Committee that ICE “submit a report by February 8, 2007, assessing the impact of the Hutto Family Center in Williamson, Texas, on the number of families required to be separated, and providing updated forecasts of family detention space needs for the next 2 years.”

Bardavid and Cox also reference a consent decree in the case of Flores v. Ashcroft under which the federal government adopted a policy in 2001 to “usually house . . . persons under the age of 18 in an open setting such as a foster or group home, and not in detention facilities.”

Because ICE has not taken any steps to prove why the Ibrahim children must be detained in prison, the agency is required to release them immediately, argue Bardavid and Cox in their letter to the Department of Homeland Security, dated Jan. 24, 2007.