- That the individual is a danger to the community
- That the individual is a flight risk
- That the individual’s deportation will be imminently executed
If you’ve been following the news in recent months you may have noticed
that there has been a considerable amount of debate surrounding US immigration
detention centers. According to the Global Detention Project which monitors
and investigates worldwide immigration detention, the United States has
the largest immigration detention infrastructure in the world.
The US utilizes detention centers around the country for the purpose of
holding immigrants for a wide variety of reasons. A person may be sent
to immigration detention if he is found to be undocumented, if he has
been convicted of committing a crime, alleged to have committed a crime,
or even if he is an asylum seeker or unaccompanied minor. These centers
are intended to be humane holding centers where immigrants can stay while
details of their legal case are determined.
Unfortunately, they are oftentimes anything but humane. The debate surrounding
US immigration detention is based mostly on the conditions of these centers
as well as the justifications for utilizing them.
There are widespread allegations of human rights violations of immigrants
being held in detention, with a clear lack of due process and oftentimes
little access to legal counsel. Additionally, while these centers are
primarily geared towards holding so-called “criminal aliens,”
a vast portion of those held in immigration detention have no criminal
record and have not even been charged with a crime. Worse yet, many prisons
in the US double as immigration detention centers, and non-criminal immigrants
may find themselves sharing the same facilities as convicted felons serving
jail time.
The duration of detention can also be a serious issue. A 2009 investigation
by the Associated Press showed that over half of the aliens held in immigration
detention at that time had no criminal record, and of those non-criminal
detainees, over 400 had been held for at least one year, over a dozen
for at least three years, and one individual had been incarcerated for
over five years.
Fortunately, if you reside in the jurisdiction of the Ninth Federal Judicial
Circuit, which includes California, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho,
Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Oregon, and Guam, there is a potential relief
measure you can utilize to help you avoid such a prolonged stay.
In the case of
Rodriguez v. Robbins
, the Circuit Court ruled that those held in immigration detention are
entitled to a new bond hearing after six months. What that means is, if
you or a loved one is held in immigration detention for six months, you
should be able to get a new hearing where the government must prove three
things in order to prevent you from being released on bond. They must
demonstrate:
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