{"id":21474,"date":"2019-05-14T07:08:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T11:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=21474"},"modified":"2019-05-14T07:08:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T11:08:08","slug":"no-unfettered-right-to-counsel-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/05\/14\/no-unfettered-right-to-counsel-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"No Unfettered Right to Counsel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>According to <em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/latino\/trump-administration-blocking-immigrants-free-legal-help-attorneys-allege-n1003516\" target=\"_blank\">NBC News<\/a><\/em>, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.raicestexas.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">RAICES<\/a>) has filed a complaint with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alleging that ICE is \u201cblocking detained immigrants from free legal services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RAICES claims that, \u201c\u201cICE drastically changed its policies recently in a way that significantly limits the ability of pro bono attorneys to work with detained persons\u201d detained at the Karnes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/08\/amid-an-unrelenting-surge-democrats-target-detention-centers-immigrationreform-com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">detention facility<\/a> in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what exactly did ICE do to prompt the complaint? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>ICE has limited group legal meetings. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>ICE has required that there be, \u201cone prospective\nclient or current client for every volunteer legal team member in the room.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>ICE stopped, \u201callowing people to sign up for\nlegal help through a \u2018walk-in\u2019 signup list.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>None of those measures should be the least bit shocking to\nanyone with any familiarity with prisons, jails or detention centers. In\ncontrolled custody settings, the safety, security and good order of the\ndetention facility take precedence over all other concerns. While detainees\nhave a right to communicate with their legal counsel, they aren\u2019t free to do so\nat any time and in any manner they choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, ICE\u2019s procedures are downright permissive compared to those in place at many other detention facilities. Take for example the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision policies for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.doccs.ny.gov\/Directives\/4404.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">inmate legal visits<\/a>. It requires a minimum of 24 hours notice prior to any legal visit. It limits legal visitors to attorneys, law students, and paralegals. Visits may only be conducted Monday through Friday during ordinary visiting hours. And the Superintendent of any institution may deny legal visits, \u201cif such action is necessary to maintain the safety, security, and\/or good order of the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ICE, on the other hand, allows \u201cprovides 12 hours of legal\nvisitation daily, even though the standards call for eight on weekdays and four\non Saturdays and Sundays,\u201d and, \u201cattorneys to meet with multiple clients and\npotential clients daily, and includes the opportunity for \u2018walk-in\u2019\nappointments and daily private group meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RAICES\u2019 complaint is part of an <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/03\/19\/supreme-court-mandatory-detention-of-criminal-aliens-is-constitutional-immigrationreform-com\/\" target=\"_blank\">overall pattern<\/a> where organizations that advocate on behalf of immigration violators brazenly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/04\/whining-about-not-winning-immigrationreform-com\/\">demand <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/04\/whining-about-not-winning-immigrationreform-com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"p (opens in a new tab)\">p<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/04\/whining-about-not-winning-immigrationreform-com\/\">rivileges<\/a> for detained foreign nationals that simply that aren\u2019t available to U.S. citizens in similar circumstances. Unfortunately, ICE has a history of giving in to such unreasonable demands. The absurd Flores Settlement Agreement is a perfect example. Will ICE cave this time? That remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a matter of constitutional law, due process in criminal\nproceedings requires that litigants retain their own counsel, waive their right\nto an attorney, or proceed with court appointed counsel if they are indigent.\nIn civil matters, however, litigants have a limited right to counsel at their\nown expense, but may be forced to continue without an attorney if they cannot\nor do not find one. Deportation is a civil matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ICE is not \u201cblocking\u201d anyone\u2019s access to free legal help by imposing reasonable procedures on attorney legal visits to detention centers. On the other hand, RAICES, and organizations, like it are stretching the concepts of due process and the right to counsel well beyond their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/04\/23\/asylum-law-myth-vs-reality-immigrationreform-com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">intended bounds<\/a>. ICE should firmly stand its ground and preserve its ability to ensure the safety of <em>everyone<\/em> who must enter its detention facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to NBC News, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) has filed a complaint with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) alleging that ICE is \u201cblocking detained immigrants from free legal services.\u201d RAICES claims that, \u201c\u201cICE drastically changed its policies recently in a way that significantly limits the ability of<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/05\/14\/no-unfettered-right-to-counsel-immigrationreform-com\/\" title=\"Read More\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":6904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[6],"tags":[1093,1524,47,5590],"yst_prominent_words":[4282,5586,4743,2118,2509,2115,5589,2572,5582,5585,1918,2142,5583,2552,5580,5587,2165,5581,5584,5588],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21475,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21474\/revisions\/21475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21474"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=21474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}