Thanks to the generous contributions of faith communities and individuals in our area, we have entered into contracts with Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and The Advocates for Human Rights to provide assistance to people in ICE detention who lack the means to hire an attorney. Our initial contract took effect on October 1, 2019. Our second contract (expanded to include Rice County and a broader range of legal services) took effect September 1, 2020.
Effective January 1, 2022, thanks again to the generosity of our supporters, our services expanded again to address persons who are not in ICE detention. Our funds support only a very limited share of the non-detained need in this region, however. We are working to continue this effort in 2023.
Here are case histories from our attorneys’ work in the first two contract years.
Client A is undocumented. When he was arrested, ICE declined to set a bond, despite the fact that he was eligible to receive one. Through our intervention, the Judge granted Client A a bond of $7,500. Thanks to contributions from his family, his church, and the Minnesota Freedom Fund, he was released from custody in early December 2019. We are continuing to represent Client A as he seeks relief from deportation.
Client B is a Lawful Permanent Resident who was arrested in January 2018. He was placed on a plane to his country of citizenship, despite never having been there before, since he was born in a refugee camp in a neighboring country. Fortunately, his family was able to afford an immigration attorney to get Client B off the plane and to get a hearing in front of an immigration judge. They could not afford additional attorney fees so Client B represented himself and lost his case. He filed his own appeal and was granted a hearing. Our attorney identified his case in November 2019, and assisted him in completing an additional application for relief from removal. After his final hearing in January 2020, where he was represented by our attorney, and supported by his family and community, Client B won his appeal and was released from custody. Now, after two years in ICE detention, his lawful permanent resident status has been restored.
Client J was in ICE detention and in removal proceedings, He is from Sierra Leone and came to the United States when he was 8 years old. Our attorneys determined that the client should not be detained or in removal proceedings at all because he is a U.S. citizen through his mother. Because he had his legal permanent residence (green card) and was under 18 years of age when his mother became a U.S. citizen, he automatically derived citizenship through her. All he needs to do now is complete some paperwork to finalize his citizenship. Our pro bono attorney worked to get Client J released from detention and has agreed to stay on the case and assist Client J with this paperwork.
Having an attorney can significantly improve the chances of avoiding detention and deportation. The opportunity for a fair hearing is a matter of fundamental justice.