CCA Blocks Immigrants From Seeing Lawyers at Georgia Detention Center

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.