Law Students

From the Inside

By Andrea

I spent all of Wednesday either trying to doze in a Honda Civic's backseat with two other women, or freezing my rear off inside a county jail an hour away. We spent the entire day at the jail, doing a Know Your Rights presentation and consulations inside the immigration-only unit for men and the mixed population women's unit. (Most residents of a county jai are state inmates serving sentences of 2 years or less. But the state signs lucrative contracts to hold federal detainees, even in the state's most overcrowded jails, and may or may not separate them from the rest of the population. Separation is better.)

Going to jail is never an uplifting experience, and this was no exception. The manhole covers on the well-mowed grounds had metal planks screwed over them to prevent escape. The "outside recreation" area was a concrete rectangle the size of half a basketball court with a cage-like wall around it. As is usual with this gig, many of the people we see do not have any form of relief from deportation, or already have outstanding orders of deportation, meaning their options are few and not likely to succeed. Female detainees regularly talk about their kids and cry. So it's tough going.

Still, we all felt really good about the day. In both units, we saw everyone who wanted a consultation, which is rare and great. Many people just wanted to understand what was going to happen to them next, and thanked us sincerely for our explanations. And I feel like I'm learning very quickly - the way you keep a mental checklist of possible forms of relief and start crossing things off or thinking of new things as the person tells you more.

Drug conviction? Crap, probably an aggravated felony, there goes everything except withholding of removal..No jail time? Good, but...yup, long suspended sentence, just as bad as a real one. Wait, conviction is really old? Long-time LPR? Huh, can't do cancellation of removal, but could he do a 212(c) waiver? Ooh, major family ties? We might have something here..

Handling the complexity of the facts and the law makes me feel smart - and like I'm actually being helpful to these people, who are almost universally bewildered by what's happening to them, whether they've been here a month or 30 years.

Wednesday made very clear to me why there's so much turnover in detention jobs in particular - it's got to be burnout city. And at the same time, I'm really glad I'm doing a tour of duty. Maybe I'll stay, and even if not, this is going to be with me for life.

Full post as published by Peanut Butter Burrito on October 03, 2008 (boomark / email).