Immigrant Detainees – Where is the Access to Legal Services?
November 4, 2009 – 10:26 am
The New York City Bar Association received a petition in October 2008 signed by 100 detainees in New York City’s Verick Street Detention Center describing cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day. The petitioners were among 250 detainees imprisoned in an immigration jail and 100 of whom are imprisoned without criminal charges. Sean Smith a Spokesman for Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano who oversees immigration enforcement said, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement considers the access to legal services at Verick Street as a good model.” In a report issued on Monday, the association’s City Bar Justice Center is calling for all immigrant detainees to be provided with counsel. An article to be published this month in The Fordham Law Review treats the Varick jail as a case study in the systemic barriers to legal representation.
For complete information please click: Immigrant Detainees – Where is the Access to Legal Services?
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