Reuters (California)
May 16, 2014
(Reuters)
- U.S. immigration authorities cannot detain without a bail hearing
California immigrants who have been convicted of certain crimes unless
the immigrants are
transferred to their custody directly from jail, a judge has ruled.
Under
federal law, immigrants who commit crimes including drug offenses and
assault can be deported, even if they are in the country legally.
The
class-action lawsuit is challenging an element of the practice of
mandatory detention, under which prisoners are not given an opportunity
to argue before a judge that
they should be released or allowed to post bond while fighting
deportation.
Judge
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote in an opinion released Thursday that
unless the immigrants are transferred directly from jail or prison, they
must be allowed such a
hearing to see whether they should be held by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) or allowed to live in the community.
The
ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California was part of a case filed by the American Civil Liberties
Union and others in San Francisco.
The civil rights organization has filed similar cases in Washington
State and Massachusetts.
"What
Immigration and Customs enforcement has been doing is picking them up
based on criminal convictions from long, long ago," said Julia Mass, an
attorney with the ACLU
in San Francisco. "Our lawsuit said the statute only allows mandatory
detention when somebody is brought directly into immigration custody
from criminal custody."
The ruling applies only to cases in California, Mass said.
ICE and its attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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