In Stewart County, Georgia, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)
operates Stewart Detention Center, which holds hundreds of immigrants
who have been detained by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite
the fact that the U.S. justice system guarantees basic due process rights
to everyone in our country, whether they are legally present or not, the
immigrants at Stewart are held with no access to lawyers or legal assistance
of any kind. Back in 2014, CCA agreed to a contract that required it to
install video teleconferencing and to establish procedures and policies
that would ensure that the immigrants have access to legal representation.
Nonetheless, CCA has failed to live up to the terms of that contract.
The reality is that even when lawyers can arrange to see their clients
at Stewart, they must often yell advice to their clients through Plexiglass
barriers due to broken telephones. Furthermore, CCA staff members often
find reasons to deny lawyers access to their clients or otherwise harass
them when they arrive, instituting arbitrary procedures that change each
time a lawyer attempts to visit a client. Earlier this year, a coalition
of immigration attorneys, law school legal clinics, and non-profit legal
organizations formally requested that ICE and CCA ensure the basic right
to representation for the immigrants detained at Stewart. Nonetheless,
ICE dismissed these concerns and agreed only to fix a few broken telephones.
In a related matter, ICE recently settled a lawsuit with the American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to ensure better telephone access for immigrants
detained in California. ICE and CCA should learn from this lawsuit and
immediately take steps to remediate the conditions at Stewart that inhibit
immigrants from accessing legal counsel. When you or a loved one are detained
and face deportation for any reason,
Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C.
is here to help. We care about you, your family, and your ability to remain
in the U.S. As a result, our California deportation defense lawyers stand
ready to build the strongest possible deportation defense case on your
behalf. Contact your
Oakland immigration lawyer
today and learn how we can advocate for you and your family in your deportation
proceedings.
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