Executive Director of @AILANational. The views expressed here are my personal opinions. RT ≠ Endorsements.
Washington, DC
Joined July 2011
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Thank you @SenatorDurbin for this letter to the GAO about the Trump Admin’s use of “hidden immigration courts.” A fair hearing requires a courtroom people can find and access. Hidden courts inside DHS facilities put that basic promise at risk. bit.ly/4BGgrI2
As we heard from @RepGregStanton about his attempts to conduct oversight of the court hidden inside the FEMA building in Washington, DC, when the agency seeking deportation controls the courthouse door, due process suffers. youtu.be/I9ReiAi1il0
Restrictions on public access and unclear notice of court locations undermine transparency and access to justice—especially for people without lawyers. These concerns demand independent scrutiny. Justice requires open doors, not hidden courts. bit.ly/4e6Uo2S
In this case, the State of Texas and the federal Department of Justice struck a deal to strip immigration judges of authority to manage their docket.
rather than ensuring they operate with integrity, balance, and due process consistent with the Constitution.
The ‘independence’ of immigration judges has become fiction. The Trump Administration has repeatedly attacked judge’s independence and coopted the courts to advance its mass deportation campaign. bit.ly/4A6fB5H
Just like with TPS for El Salvador, another non-decision by this Administration is leaving people from Ukraine and Sudan in limbo as well. The priority should be clear: protecting people, not leaving them vulnerable to being sent back to a country at war bit.ly/48cah4w
Shocking that people are being taken into the basement of a building that ICE uses as a detention site that is now doubling as an immigration court. Gratitude to @SenAlexPadilla for uncovering how deportations are happening under a shroud, behind closed doors.
NEW: I made an unannounced visit to an ICE holding facility in downtown Los Angeles as the administration reportedly launches its 45-day immigration surge.
While there, I learned that court proceedings are being held in the facility’s basement, which raises serious concerns. I also met someone searching for a family member detained outside an elementary school, where agents smashed a car window, even though the family member had authorization to remain in the country.
We deserve answers about what’s happening behind closed doors. I’ll keep showing up to demand accountability and ensure people in detention are treated with dignity and have access to basic necessities and legal counsel.
Los Angeles AILA attorneys are reporting that ICE is running the show at this hidden LA court and at previously undisclosed & difficult to access locations.
Due process and justice cannot happen in darkness. Accountability cannot exist behind closed doors. More elected leaders must visit courts and ICE detention sites. youtu.be/ni6Sn_LnMmU?si=XsYa…
AILA supports Rep. Chu's letter focused on an issue of upmost concern: demanding answers about rising immigration bond denials, increasingly unaffordable bond amounts & concerns about the independence of immigration judges under the Trump administration. chu.house.gov/media-center/p…
At a time when families are struggling with affordability and rising healthcare costs, taxpayers are being asked to foot the bill for the unnecessary detention of people who have lived in our communities for decades.
ICE officers fired multiple rounds at a vehicle during an enforcement operation in NYC, with a 5-year-old child reportedly in the back seat. A system that puts children, families & entire communities in the path of this kind of violence is a system that demands scrutiny.
This latest incident underscores the urgent need to examine how immigration enforcement is being carried out in communities across the country. A better way is possible. AILA outlines tangible steps we can take: aila.org/library/a-better-wa…
