Immigration detention centers deny justice | Opinion
The Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado opened in January 2017. The burden is consistently placed on the immigrant to navigate a legal system they are unfamiliar with, in a language they might not yet speak, our columnists say.Being a haven for immigrants fleeing persecution and injustice is supposed to be a proud hallmark of our country. Still, immigrants are forced to run the gantlet of our arcaneEven asylum seekers, whose rights are enshrined in both international and U.S.
Despite the requirements of the U.S. Constitution and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s own standards, some immigration detention facilities lack any private meeting spaces for attorneys to meet with their clients. When lawyers can visit their clients, they often have to do so in public areas in front of guards and other inmates. Lawyers can’t use their laptops to take notes or to draft or edit client declarations.
Video conferencing, which has become ubiquitous to us all during the COVID-19 pandemic, is either wholly or effectively unavailable inside immigration detention facilities. Some facilities limit calls with attorneys to as little as 10 minutes and the only available phones are often right next to the guard’s desk in a loud public area with no possibility of confidentiality. The consequences are real — migrants who need to share the details of the persecution they endured before coming to the United States are reticent to share those personal and traumatic details in a public space.
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