“Experts in immigration law say that this is one of the fundamental misunderstandings people in the U.S. have about ICE detention: Despite the administration’s rhetoric, ICE does not actually have the authority to detain people in the name of public safety. The agency can only detain people for allegedly violating immigration laws. “It’s something that…
April 3, 2020 Contact: Jared Chausow, Brooklyn Defender Services (JChausow@bds.org) Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders (RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org ) Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society (RHaskins@legal-aid.org) Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (SMccann@ndsny.org) Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services (LToddmedina@nycds.org) ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** NYC DEFENDERS STATEMENT ON LEGISLATIVE ROLLBACK OF BAIL AND DISCOVERY…
April 1, 2020 Contact: Jared Chausow, Brooklyn Defender Services (JChausow@bds.org) Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders (RKarerat@bronxdefenders.org) Redmond Haskins, The Legal Aid Society (RHaskins@legal-aid.org) Sam McCann, The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem (SMccann@ndsny.org) Lupe Todd-Medina, New York County Defender Services (LToddmedina@nycds.org) ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** NYC DEFENDERS CONDEMN EFFORT TO GUT PROGRESSIVE BAIL REFORMS IN EMERGENCY…
“The governor’s proposal also permits pretrial detention for a much wider range of offenses and allows judges to make guesses about the future “dangerousness” of a defendant (the likelihood that they will commit a new violent crime) based on the “weight of the evidence,” which flouts the presumption of innocence before a case goes to…
“Justine Olderman, executive director of Bronx Defenders, a public defender organization, recently described the conditions at Rikers to The Intercept: “You have a situation where all the protocols that are coming out of the Centers for Disease Control cannot be enacted: There are broken sinks, there’s no hand sanitizer, people don’t have access to soap, and at…
“But while the expansion of remotely-administered justice in New York’s criminal courts is seen by many as an important measure amid public health concerns, it is raising civil rights concerns as in-person appearances are crucial to the criminal justice process. “It creates this barrier to representation,” said Ilona Coleman, legal director of the Bronx Defenders’…
“Many immigration courts have closed. Lawyers are not visiting detainees. And the situation now is like being in a hurricane, when the rain stops the real impact will be known,” said Francisco Collazos, Immigrant Families Together co-founder. Organizations such as Immigrant Families Together are currently working to identify how many detainees may be at greatest…
“Law360, New York (March 30, 2020, 9:52 PM EDT) — A New York federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in New York from carrying out what immigrant advocates claim is a blanket no-release policy for certain detainees accused of civil immigration offenses. During an afternoon teleconference, U.S. District Judge Alvin…
“A federal judge on Thursday ordered the release of 10 immigrants held in county jails in New Jersey due to the coronavirus. All of them were at acute risk due to their underlying health conditions. The petition for the release was filed by the Brooklyn Defender Services. U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres agreed with…
NYCLU and Bronx Defenders Statement on Preliminary Injunction in No-Release Lawsuit Federal Court: ICE Must End Secret “No-Release Policy,” Many People in ICE Detention to be Promptly Evaluated for Release For Immediate Release: March 30, 2020 Media contact: Ben Schaefer, bschaefer@nyclu.org, (212) 607-3372 Ryan Karerat, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org, 917-635-4326 NEW YORK – A federal judge today issued…
“For weeks, immigrant advocates have pushed ICE to release certain immigrants with underlying medical issues from the facilities and to scale back arrests, saying detention facilities were ripe for mass infections and casualties. There are currently more than 38,000 immigrants in ICE custody within private and local jails. So far, the agency has not changed…
March 27, 2020 CONTACTS: Alejandra Lopez, The Legal Aid Society, 917-294-9348, ailopez@legal-aid.org Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, 917-635-4326, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Legal Aid and Bronx Defenders Win Immediate Release of 4 Immigrants in ICE Detention, Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Federal Judge Found “…no evidence that the government took any specific action to prevent the…
“In a similar effort, two New York legal groups, The Legal Aid Society and The Bronx Defenders, also filed action recently to free seven ICE detainees in New Jersey and New York jails who are at “imminent risk” of COVID-19 because of their age or underlying health conditions.” Read the full article here
“These recent events make me think of people like Ousman Darboe, a longtime Bronx, New York resident, husband, and father, currently jailed at Bergen County Jail, whom ICE has kept locked up in civil immigration confinement since 2017. ICE claims he’s a public safety risk, even after governor Andrew Cuomo granted a pardon of his sole criminal conviction,…
(NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, and The Bronx Defenders – New York City’s defender organizations providing free legal in representation to detained immigrants through the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) – today released the following statement in response to news of the first ICE detainee testing positive for…
March 24, 2020 CONTACTS: Alejandra Lopez, The Legal Aid Society, 917-294-9348, ailopez@legal-aid.org Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, 917-635-4326, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org Dan Ball, Brooklyn Defender Services, 203-213-9303, dball@bds.org ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** NYIFUP Statement on First Immigrant Detainee Testing Positive For COVID-19 at Bergen County Jail NYC Public Defenders Demand ICE Release All Immigrants From Detention (NEW YORK,…
“On March 6, the Bronx Defenders, a public defender nonprofit, sent a letter to the Bergen County Jail pushing for more information on how clients with underlying medical issues would be treated and calling for the release of ICE detainees from the facility. The group represents more than two dozen ICE detainees currently at the…
“The Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies are intersecting with a highly contagious disease at a time when New York State leads the nation with at least 20,875 confirmed coronavirus cases. In New York on Friday, Attorney General Letitia James joined Bitta Mostofi, New York City’s commissioner of Immigrant Affairs, in calling for a shutdown of…
“It remains possible that the blooming epidemic on Rikers Island will not turn into a catastrophe of mass fatalities. Medical teams are working hard in city jails and, with any luck, they will be able to save lives. If people do die on Rikers, however, it won’t be because the public officials with the power…
“There is also attention on the plight of individuals in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which was already tied to poor living conditions before the coronavirus outbreak. The Bronx Defenders and the Legal Aid Society on March 23 filed for a temporary restraining order intended to bring about the release of ICE clients who…
“According to the groups – The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services and The Bronx Defenders – the inmates are rallying against “egregious conditions” and inaction by ICE to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “Among reports of egregious conditions, we have heard that ICE is not responding to medical sick calls and that there are…
March 23, 2020 CONTACTS: Alejandra Lopez, The Legal Aid Society, 917-294-9348, ailopez@legal-aid.org Ryan Karerat, The Bronx Defenders, 917-635-4326, rkarerat@bronxdefenders.org ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*** Bronx Defenders, Legal Aid Request Temporary Restraining Order to Immediately Free Clients at High Risk of COVID-19 from Local Immigration Detention Centers (NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society and The Bronx…
“As USCIS kept most of its offices open Monday, immigrants and their lawyers were left waiting for appointments in often crowded lobbies. While new decisions continued to be issued by the hour, the lack of aggressive action raisedthe prospect that the virus will gain a foothold in detention centers just as public health leaders are…
“News of Weinstein’s diagnosis comes as at least 38 people have tested positive for coronavirus inside New York City jails. Jacqueline Sherman, the interim chairwoman of the New York City Board of Correction, sent a letter to state and city officials on Saturday detailing that 21 inmates, 12 Department of Corrections employees, and five Central Health…
“The news comes amid reports of a growing number of COVID-19 cases inside correctional facilities in the New York City area. At least 38 people on Rikers Island — both inmates and employees — have tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. ICE detainees at the Hudson County jail and two other…