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US immigration detention system violates individual rights: reports

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Current US immigration detention and transfer policies unnecessarily interfere with individual detainees' rights to counsel and procedural fairness, according to two reports released Wednesday urging reforms to the system. According to a report by the Constitution Project, the government should:improv access to counsel for immigration detainees and, more generally, for all non-citizens in removal proceedings, including individuals who are not detained. ... Appointed counsel for detainees would benefit both non-citizens and the government. By focusing on the crucial issues in each case, attorneys could make the removal process more efficient and, as a result, less costly. Most importantly, the process would be more just.A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report emphasizes that detainee transfers in the immigration system are "doubly troubling because immigration detainees, unlike prisoners, are technically not being punished" and:erect often insurmountable obstacles to detainees' access to counsel, the merits of their cases notwithstanding. Transfers impede their rights to challenge their detention, lead to unfair midstream changes in the interpretation of laws applied to their cases, and can ultimately lead to wrongful deportations.The HRW report was based on information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a Syracuse University research organization that also released detailed findings about the US immigration detention system's reliance on transfers to cope with an increase in detainees. In November, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the Obama administration will push for immigration reform legislation early next year. DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced in October a plan for improving immigration detention policies and facilities in response to allegations of poor conditions and abuse. In August, ICE acknowledged that 11 deaths in immigration detention facilities had gone unreported, and directed a review of all detainee deaths to make sure there were no other omissions. Also in the same month, ICE announced plans to implement large-scale changes to its immigration detention system, including the creation of an Office of Detention Policy and Planning, to ensure that detainees have health care access and are free from persecution.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 03, 2009 (boomark / email).