American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey
FOIA Docs Released to USA Today Reveal Deportation Quota Driving Immigration Policy
February 19, 2013
FOIA Docs Released to USA Today Reveal Deportation Quota Driving Immigration Policy
Advocates Release Briefing Guide Exposing Decision to Enlist Local Police About Meeting Numbers Not About Safety
Following the USA Today story outlining ICE tactics to boost deportation numbers, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the ACLU Foundation of Georgia, and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network released a briefing guide exposing ICE headquarters directives to Georgia and North Carolina field offices to disregard public safety concerns in order to meet self-imposed deportation quota requirements.
Adelina Nicholls, executive director of GLAHR adds, "The documents are damning evidence that the checkpoints that cover our state have nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with a rogue agency and its deportation dragnet. It confirms the claims our community has been making for years about the agency’s practices. Georgia police should be stopped from any more roadside checkpoints until it is clear that they are not being used for ICE's quota."
"These revelations highlighting ICE's actual game plan of aggressively targeting undocumented community members to meet the agency's deportation quotas are deeply disturbing. It is time for the administration to stop such tactics and put an end to unjust deportations," explains Azadeh Shahshahani, National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director with the ACLU of Georgia.
Chris Newman, legal director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, says, "The Obama Administration's decision to enlist police as deportation 'force multipliers' was motivated by a self-imposed deportation quota. These documents show that ICE tactics are expanding the agency's dragnet instead of narrowing its focus. Until President Obama takes concrete steps to reign in rogue agencies within DHS, his ostensible immigration reform goals will be put in jeopardy by actions that belie his words."
The Briefing Guide is available at:
http://www.acluga.org/files/9113/6129/0506/2013-02-18_GA_Briefing_Guide_Final_CIRC.pdf
State Court Temporarily Halts Georgia Abortion Ban
December 26, 2012
State Court Temporarily Halts Georgia Abortion Ban
The Superior Court of Fulton County last Friday temporarily suspended a Georgia law banning pre-viability abortions. The law would have criminalized virtually all abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, with only an extremely narrow exception for the woman's health.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Georgia challenged the law on behalf of three Georgia obstetrician-gynecologists whose patients include women in need of this essential medical care.
“This law places women in harm’s way by depriving them of the right to make their own serious medical decisions,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Politicians should not place ideology over a woman's health."
Although very few abortions occur after 20 weeks, a woman who has an abortion at this point does so for a variety of reasons, including the fact that continuing the pregnancy poses a threat to her health, that the fetus has been diagnosed with a medical condition or anomaly, or that the pregnancy has failed, and miscarriage is inevitable.
“We’re glad that this dangerous, overreaching law has been put on hold,” said Chad Brock, staff attorney with the ACLU of Georgia. “If our elected officials want to help women, they should be passing laws that increase their access to vital health services – not putting them in jeopardy by denying them critical care.”
For more information on this case, please visit: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom-womens-rights/lathrop-et-al-v-deal-et-al
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Complaint
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Motion for Injunctive Relief
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Brief in Support of Motion for Injunctive Relief
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Preliminarty Injunction
State Court Temporarily Halts Georgia Abortion Ban
December 26, 2012
State Court Temporarily Halts Georgia Abortion Ban
The Superior Court of Fulton County last Friday temporarily suspended a Georgia law banning pre-viability abortions. The law would have criminalized virtually all abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, with only an extremely narrow exception for the woman's health.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Georgia challenged the law on behalf of three Georgia obstetrician-gynecologists whose patients include women in need of this essential medical care.
“This law places women in harm’s way by depriving them of the right to make their own serious medical decisions,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Politicians should not place ideology over a woman's health."
Although very few abortions occur after 20 weeks, a woman who has an abortion at this point does so for a variety of reasons, including the fact that continuing the pregnancy poses a threat to her health, that the fetus has been diagnosed with a medical condition or anomaly, or that the pregnancy has failed, and miscarriage is inevitable.
“We’re glad that this dangerous, overreaching law has been put on hold,” said Chad Brock, staff attorney with the ACLU of Georgia. “If our elected officials want to help women, they should be passing laws that increase their access to vital health services – not putting them in jeopardy by denying them critical care.”
For more information on this case, please visit: www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom-womens-rights/lathrop-et-al-v-deal-et-al
Legal Docs
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Complaint
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Motion for Injunctive Relief
Lathrop, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Brief for Support of Motion for Injunctive Relief
Lathrip, et al. v. Deal, et al. - Preliminary Injunction
Rep. Jared Polis Joins Detention Watch Network to Launch New Campaign to “Expose and Close” Widespread Abuse at Detention Centers across the Country
November 15, 2012
New Reports Shed Light on 10 of the Worst Detention Centers in the Country; National and Local Leaders Tell President Obama “Enough is Enough!”
Washington, DC–The immigration detention system in the United States has grown drastically over the last 15 years and the appalling conditions in the detention centers that house immigrants have reached a tipping point. Today, national and local leaders responded by saying, “enough is enough!”
On a press call today, Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02) and Bishop Minerva Carcaño joined national and local leaders from the Detention Watch Network to release a series of reports titled, “Expose and Close,” to reveal the widespread pattern of mistreatment at ten of the worst immigrant prisons across the country. Today, speakers called on President Obama to do what’s right and close these detention centers as well as issued a list of reforms to ensure the safety, dignity and well-being of immigrants held in detention.
According toAndrea Black,Executive Director, Detention Watch Network, “We hope that the Administration will act. ICE claims it has taken steps to reform the detention system, but the people actually in detention are suffering as much as ever. In his second term, the president has the power to bring about change that will uplift immigrants instead of lock them up.”
Among the report’s findings:
- Roberto Medina-Martinez, a 39-year-old immigrant, died at Stewart in March 2009 of a treatable heart infection. An investigation conducted following his death revealed that the nursing staff failed to refer Mr. Medina for timely medical treatment and the facility physician failed to follow internal oversight procedures.
- A man with serious emotional health problems in the Houston Processing Center in Texas was placed in solitary confinement for months at a time, a practice which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has deemed torture.
- At Baker, Etowah and Pinal County Detention Centers and Jails, families are only able to visit with their loved ones in detention through video monitors after having driven hundreds of miles to see them.
- At the Pinal County Jail complaints regarding sanitation include receiving food on dirty trays, worms found in food, bugs and worms found in the faucets, receiving dirty laundry, and being overcrowded with ten other men in one cell and only one toilet.
President Obama made promises to reform this inhumane system in 2009, and while there were some efforts to improve the system, the reality on the ground has not changed. Pedro Guzman, formerly detained at the Stewart Detention Center, shared his firsthand experience: “We were treated like animals-- held in pod with 64 people, no privacy, eating food that was inedible and constant yelling and disrespect from the officers. We rarely had court dates even after they were already scheduled, and they made it impossible to adjust your status in a legal and efficient way. There is absolutely no justice in the detention system.”
U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02)also joined today’s call for justice: “It needn’t take the passage of comprehensive immigration reform for us to work together to reform the immigration detention system and close the most egregious centers highlighted in these reports. Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to continue to support this waste of money and resources.”
Conditions at 10 of the worst jails and prisons that house immigrants have gotten so bad, the only option is to begin shutting them down. Azadeh N. Shahshahani, National Security/Immigrants' Rights Project Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia and President of National Lawyers Guild, said, “The human rights abuses at the Irwin County Detention Center and the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia in many ways exemplify the problems with using remote, highly restrictive facilities to hold immigrants.
These conditions are unacceptable and not in the spirit of the Administration’s promised reforms."
“While immigrants suffer under prolonged detention at Polk County and the Houston Processing Center, private prison corporations are getting rich,” saidBob Libal, Executive Director of Grassroots Leadership. “It doesn’t have to be this way. ICE should prioritize release of immigrants in community support programs that are far more humane, less costly, and are effective at ensuring immigrants are able to appear at their hearings.”
SaidBishop Minerva G. Carcaño,Resident Bishop of the Los Angeles Area of the United Methodist Church, “The detention of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in this country for profit and political gain is a moral outrage. Detention centers are not the answer to our broken immigration policies.”
In conjunction with today’s national launch, Detention Watch Network members around the country will be releasing their local reports in a coordinated effort to call for closure of these ten jails and prisons across the nation that exemplify some of the most appalling conditions of immigrant detention. These facilities include Etowah County Detention Center (AL), Pinal County Jail (AZ), Houston Processing Center (TX), Polk County Detention Facility (TX), Stewart Detention Center (GA), Irwin County Jail (GA), Hudson County Jail (NJ), Theo Lacy Detention Center (CA), Tri-County Detention Center (IL), and Baker County Jail (FL).
RESOURCES:
- View the “Expose and Close” Reports and Executive Summary here: www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/exposeandclose
- To listen to today’s call, click here: http://detentionwatchnetwork.org/sites/detentionwatchnetwork.org/files/ExposeClose/ECTeleconference.mp3
Unprecedented Collaboration Between Georgia Law Enforcement and Federal Immigration Officials Prompts Lawsuit Demanding Transparency
October 24, 2012
DHS and ICE violate Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to six month old request.
Atlanta, GA - October 24, 2012
Today the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit seeks public records documenting the effects of Georgia’s increasing involvement in immigration enforcement, including information that will shed light on increasing reports of racial profiling and police abuse.
The two organizations requested the records over six months ago. With representation by the ACLU of Georgia, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, and the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, the lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE have failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, and demands the release of the requested records.
Azadeh Shahshahani, counsel for the ACLU of Georgia commented, “Transparency is integral to a democratic society. Yet by withholding the records, ICE is preventing the shining of much needed light on the extent of the collaboration between this agency and local police in Georgia.”
The impact of Georgia’s experiment with immigration enforcement—through 287(g) agreements, the Secure Communities program, and HB 87—is largely unstudied. The records sought in the lawsuit will reveal who is being targeted for immigration enforcement, and how increased immigration enforcement by police is impacting public safety and civil rights.
Adelina Nicholls, Executive Director of GLAHR explained, "Immigrant communities have felt the aggression inside their own local neighborhoods since the implementation of 287(g) and the Secure Communities Program. HB87 increased the anti-immigrant climate and now overwhelming amounts of family members in our communities have been detained under minor traffic violations, as many of them are being arrested without a 'probable cause.'
Throughout the state of Georgia we are organizing to keep racial profiling out of our communities and we want to be informed about the programs that we see contributing to it. We shouldn't have to sue for transparency but if the Department of Homeland Security and ICE refuse to honor the law, we will do what it takes to shine a light on what is happening in Georgia."
The complaint can be viewed here: http://www.acluga.org/files/9413/5108/5027/GLAHR_v_ICE_Complaint.pdf
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Feds Pay Thousands For Wrongful Deportation
October 23, 2012
GPB News
Mon, October 22, 2012
by Ellen Reinhardt
This month Mark Lyttle, an American citizen from North Carolina who has mental disabilities, received a 175 thousand dollar settlement from the federal government. A federal district court in Georgia found the government wrongfully deported him Mexico.
In 2008 Lyttle was inexplicably referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. That’s despite the fact the bi-polar man had never been to Mexico, shares no Mexican heritage and spoke no Spanish.But he was detained and deported to Mexico with just three dollars in his pocket.
Azadeh Shahshahani with the Georgia ACLU , which represented him, says Lyttle spent 125 days wandering central America.
She says he was" living off the streets and homeless shelters, and begging. And he had no way to prove his identity either, so he was imprisoned at times.“
Ultimately, someone with the American Embassy in Guatemala helped him get back to the U.S.
ICE has refused comment on Lyttle’s case. A spokesman says they now offer a 24-hour hotline to help detainees. ICE personnel will collect information from the individual and refer it to the relevant Field office for immediate action. Shahshahani says that is a good first step. But she says people with mental disabilities need a court-appointed lawyer to ensure their rights are protected during the deportation process.
She says “The ACLU has done a study on documented cases where individuals who could not even remember their own names were left to languish in detention centers with nobody really caring what happens to them until an attorney or advocate discovers their fate.”
Unprecedented Collaboration Between Georgia Law Enforcement and Federal Immigration Officials Prompts Lawsuit Demanding Transparency
October 23, 2012
DHS and ICE violate Freedom of Information Act by failing to adequately respond to six month old request.
What: Press Conference to Announce FOIA Lawsuit Against Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement
When: 11:00am, Wednesday, October 24th, 2012.
Where: US District Court, Northern District of Georgia.
75 Spring Street Southwest, Atlanta, GA 30303
Who: Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and the ACLU of Georgia
The lawsuit to be filed tomorrow by GLAHR and the ACLU of Georgia, seeks public records documenting the effects of Georgia’s increasing involvement in immigration enforcement, including information that will shed light on increasing reports of racial profiling and police abuse. The two organizations requested the records over six months ago. The lawsuit alleges that DHS and ICE have failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, and demands the release of the requested records.
The impact of Georgia’s experiment with immigration enforcement—through 287(g) agreements, the Secure Communities program, and HB 87—is largely unstudied. The records sought in the lawsuit will reveal who is being targeted for immigration enforcement, and how increased immigration enforcement by police is impacting public safety and civil rights.
The two plaintiffs will hold a press conference to announce their suit at US District Court, Northern District of Georgia. 75 Spring Street Southwest, Atlanta, GA 30303 at 11:00am on Wednesday the 24th.
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ACLU of Georgia Releases Know Your Rights Documents for Right to Language Interpreters in Georgia Courts
October 01, 2012
The ACLU of Georgia has released information sheets in English and Spanish for right to access to language interpreters for individuals with limited proficiency in English. The documents can be accessed here and here.
ACLU of Georgia’s Azadeh Shahshahani writes about the unchecked powers granted to the Immigration Enforcement Review Board and their latest investigation targeting the City of Vidalia.
August 13, 2012
Jurist, Friday, August 10, 2012
Unchecked Power Granted by House Bill 87
JURIST Guest Columnist Azadeh Shahshahani National Security/Immigrant Rights' Project Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia says that the unchecked power of the Immigration Enforcement Review Board set up by House Bill 87 is cause for great concern ...
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia (ACLUGA) was joined by more than a dozen organizations in issuing a letter [PDF] to Immigration Enforcement Review Board (the Board) Chairman Benjamin J. Vinson, laying out concerns with how the Board may apply the powers granted to it in the case of Michael Dale Smith v. City of Vidalia.
The Board was set up by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act, commonly known as House Bill 87(HB 87), to investigate complaints against public agencies or employees pertaining to violations of or failure to "properly enforce" provisions of HB 87 among other Georgia laws and to impose penalties, including $1,000-$5,000 fines and loss of state funding.
There are serious concerns about the extent of the powers granted to the Board. For one thing, there is no clear and objective standard for the issuance of subpoenas within the Board's rules, or any clear processes for appealing the issuance of a subpoena or obtaining a remedy for an inappropriately issued subpoena. The ability of the Board — a non-judicial, non-elected body — to compel attendance and testimony based solely on the request of a private citizen under the unclear standard of "good cause shown" allows for personal agendas to result in subpoenas.
The Board's rules [PDF] also set it apart from the time-tested system of governmental checks and balances. There is no mechanism for reviewing the Board's final determinations to strip funding from public entities or levy fines against individuals and employers. This potential application of the Board's unchecked power is particularly concerning in the instant case.
On June 29, 2012, the Board conducted a meeting in part to discuss a complaint Smith reportedly filed with the Board on March 5, 2012, alleging that Vidalia was a "sanctuary city." Smith requested that the Board review and enforce the anti-sanctuary law enacted in 2009 against Vidalia's alleged "catch-and-release" immigration policies. Smith has alleged that businesses in Vidalia are acting in conjunction with the city to provide sanctuary to the undocumented immigrant workforce. He has alleged that catch-and-release incidents have occurred from 2006 until the present and he specifically mentioned the private company Lark Industries as an alleged offender. Counsel for the city of Vidalia has reportedly responded to a letter from the Board denying it is a sanctuary city and stating that it has never adopted or enforced any sanctuary policies.
Despite concerns expressed by members of the Board, it unanimously voted to create the Vidalia review panel to complete a preliminary investigation.
As the ACLUGA emphasized in our letter, despite Smith's allegations concerning Lark Industries and other businesses within the city of Vidalia, any investigation this review panel conducts must be restricted to public entities. The ACLUGA also requested an explanation as to what authority the review panel possesses to investigate alleged violations of Georgia immigration laws that are said to have occurred before the creation of the Board. Additionally, we have also sought clarification regarding what authority the Board possesses to potentially issue sanctions for violations that are found to have occurred prior to the Board's creation.
The ACLUGA also questioned why a review panel was created to investigate Smith's accusations against Vidalia in the first place when Board members have described his complaint as "vague" and lacking in important specific details such as names, dates and locations. We asked for clarification as to how Smith's complaint actually met the prima facie standard that the Board's rules require before a complaint may be considered by the Board.
Following Vidalia's denial as to the existence of city sanctuary policies, Vinson again contacted Smith and asked him to produce any other documentation of a sanctuary policy. Smith's reply, in Vinson's words, was to "essentially [ask] us to investigate and find it." Smith is in effect requesting that the Board procure the evidence that would prove his accusations correct.
If Smith's nameless, dateless and location-free complaint is considered by the Board to have constituted the "sufficient facts" necessary to establish a prima facie threshold, then the said standard of consideration leaves the Board's complaint process ripe for abuse and misuse by any persons who desire to accuse public agencies and employees as they please without fulfilling any burden of proof. To attain the attention and public-funded resources of a body such as the Board, a complainant must do more than merely accuse without greater specificity.
It is of great concern that, following the Smith decision, the Board has authorized its complaint process to amount to what is essentially a fishing expedition. It must immediately stop spending public resources on this unnecessary and wasteful venture. The governor and the legislature must also establish checks and balances for this body — otherwise we are likely to see abuses of power committed at public's expense.
Azadeh Shahshahani focuses her work on Georgia's compliance with international human rights and constitutional standards. Recently, she was elected President of the National Lawyers Guild and is one of the Founders of Human Rights Atlanta.
http://jurist.org/hotline/2012/08/azadeh-shahshahani-hb87-immigration.php
ACLU-GA Releases Frequently Asked Questions About HB 87
May 01, 2012
As the first year anniversary of the signing into law of Georgia’s House Bill 87 approaches, the ACLU Foundation of Georgia today released an updated version of Frequently Asked Questions about the Georgia Racial Profiling Law. The pamphlet includes information about the various sections of law and their implementation, the legal challenge, where the law now stands, as well as the negative impact of the law on Georgia’s economy and reputation. Download the pamphlet for more information.
