IMMIGRATION LAWYER - REMOVAL AND DEPORTATION

More Immigration Officers Watching Jails

Link: ABC News: More Immigration Officers Watching Jails.

U.S. jails and prisons have become strategic chokepoints in the search for illegal immigrants.

More federal agents are more closely watching local jails for potentially tens of thousands of immigrants subject to deportation. Federal officials also are enlisting local authorities to do background checks on people under arrest.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say more jail checks are crucial to preventing serious crimes by illegal immigrants. In December, for example, an illegal immigrant with a history of arrests for assaults and drug offenses shot two Long Beach police officers before he was killed in a gun battle.

"This isn't really an immigration issue. It's a public safety issue," ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said. "You can be sure there'll be a finger-pointing drill at the end of the day if they do something evil."

Immigration battle ends for gifted teen

Link: United Press International - NewsTrack - Immigration battle ends for gifted teen.

Immigration officials, after a nine-year deportation battle, say a Reno, Nev., family with a gifted daughter will be allowed to remain in the United States.

The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday that illegal immigrants Ben and Londy Cabrera, who emigrated from Mexico and Guatemala respectively in the 1980s, will be able to remain in their new homeland with their two daughters, who were born in Los Angeles.

U.S. loses 20-year attempt to deport 2 immigrants - LA Times

Link: U.S. loses 20-year attempt to deport 2 immigrants - Los Angeles Times.

A federal immigration judge has dismissed the government's attempt to deport two men who were arrested along with six other U.S. residents because of their alleged ties to Palestinian terrorists and who fought relentless efforts to force them to leave the country for 20 years.

Judge Bruce E. Einhorn of Los Angeles, in a ruling made public Tuesday, said the government had violated the constitutional rights of Khader M. Hamide and Michel I. Shehadeh by its "gross failure" to comply with his instructions to produce "potentially exculpatory and other relevant information."

Hundreds deported after LA sweep

Link: Hundreds deported after LA sweep - Yahoo! News.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested over the past week in one of the biggest U.S. stings have been deported, but some are being held for possible criminal prosecution.

Federal authorities announced Tuesday the results of a weeklong series of raids in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that targeted illegal immigrants who had previously been deported for crimes or defied final deportation orders.

Of the 761 people arrested in a five-county region since Jan. 17, more than 450 have already been removed from the country, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

More than half of those arrested in the sweeps were already in jail and are being turned over to federal authorities as their sentences expire, an ICE official said.

Locked in Squalor - washingtonpost.com [editorial]

Link: Locked in Squalor - washingtonpost.com.

NO MATTER your position in the debate over immigration policy, you no doubt agree that the United States ought to treat those accused of violating immigration law humanely. As it happens, so does U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which for years has had guidelines on the books governing the treatment of detainees (about 27,500 of whom are locked in its facilities every night). And, according to the agency's spokesman, ICE is very good at meeting its standards.

But a report released by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general last week suggests the opposite. The study examined five facilities and found violations of basic ICE guidelines in every one. Among the more upsetting: roach and rat infestations; limited access to clean underwear; dirty food trays and undercooked poultry; faulty ventilation; and, perhaps most disturbing, constricted access to counsel. Unlike other types of prisoners in the United States, noncitizens held for violations of immigration law have no right to state-provided legal representation, but ICE's guidelines specify that they must have access to law libraries and to working telephones with up-to-date phone numbers connecting to free legal aid services. The inspector general found that phones often did not work and that the law libraries were often obsolete. In one facility, not one of the 12 numbers for legal services worked.

Guatemalans in U.S. Face Deportation Threat

Link: NPR : Guatemalans in U.S. Face Deportation Threat.

Civil war drove hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans to the U.S. two decades ago. Many have sought legal status ever since. Now U.S. authorities are threatening to deport thousands.

Pr. William Jailers Might Screen for Deportations - washingtonpost.com

Link: Pr. William Jailers Might Screen for Deportations - washingtonpost.com.

The Prince William jail could soon take on the federal task of screening undocumented immigrants for deportation after its 10-member board unanimously decided last week to move forward with Immigration and Customs Enforcement training.

"I just think this is the right thing to do," jail board Chairman Patrick Hurd said before the Wednesday night vote.

While several Northern Virginia jurisdictions have discussed taking on the training, which would streamline the deportation process, Prince William could be the first local county to adopt it. With the jail board's approval, the matter now comes before the Board of County Supervisors, and Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R) has already expressed his support.

LIEBERMAN WARNS OF SUBSTANDARD TREATMENT OF IMMIGRATION DETAINEES

Link: Senator Joe Lieberman: News Release.

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., warned Wednesday of potential widespread mistreatment of immigration detainees and insisted that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately improve disciplinary treatment, grievance procedures, medical care and other standards for its detainees at so called Service Processing Centers.

His comments came in reaction to a Department of Homeland Security Inspector General audit of five immigration detention centers

“I am concerned that men and women detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are not being afforded established minimum levels of health, safety, and humane treatment,” Lieberman said. “I expect ICE to improve its record in the face of this recent audit and reexamine the effectiveness of its current annual review process. I am particularly concerned by troubling reports of alleged physical, sexual, and verbal abuse by corrections officers at all five detention facilities and excessive levels of disciplinary action such as the rush to lock down detainees. I am also dismayed that grievance standards do not properly explain to detainees how to report abuse or civil rights violations.”

Court Rules on Deporting Convicts - WSJ.com

Link: Court Rules on Deporting Convicts - WSJ.com.

The Supreme Court sided Wednesday with U.S. immigration authorities who want to deport a man convicted in a car-theft case.

In a near-unanimous decision, the court said immigration law provides for removing someone convicted of aiding and abetting a theft offense when the term of imprisonment is at least one year.

The justices were considering whether conviction on a state charge of aiding and abetting car theft rose to the level envisioned by Congress when the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed allowing for deportation of immigrants found guilty of aggravated felonies.

Luis Alexander Duenas-Alvarez, a Peruvian immigrant, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a state theft charge in California. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then ruled that Mr. Duenas-Alvarez's conviction did not qualify as an aggravated felony under immigration law.

Immigration Centers Fail Health Checks - NYT

Link: Immigration Centers Fail Health Checks - New York Times.

Authorities failed to maintain adequate health and safety standards for some of the suspected illegal immigrants housed at five detention centers, according to an audit report by the Homeland Security department's inspector general.

The report released Tuesday found health care violations at four of the five sites inspected and environmental health and safety concerns at three of the five.

It found noncompliance with ''general conditions'' of confinement at all five, ''including disciplinary policy, classifying detainees and housing together detainees classified at different security levels.''