Trump administration abruptly moves hundreds of immigrant hearings out of San Francisco

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Trump administration abruptly moves hundreds of immigrant hearings out of San Francisco

Attorneys representing detained immigrants fear move will in effect deny legal counsel to thousands

Darwin BondGraham in Oakland
Sat 18 Jan 2020 00.16 GMT
Last modified on Sat 18 Jan 2020 00.24 GMT

Northern California immigration attorneys are reeling after learning of a controversial Trump administration decision to move hundreds of immigrant detainees’ court hearings out of San Francisco and to a new courthouse in Van Nuys, a small city north of Los Angeles.

Legal aid attorneys and public defenders who represent the majority of detained immigrants in northern California say the government did not consult with them about the move.

They are concerned the transfer will in effect deny legal counsel to thousands of people facing deportation while undoing years of work by Bay Area not-for-profit organizations and local governments to provide more robust legal services for immigrants in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention.

“It’s a clear step away from justice,” Raha Jorjani, director of the immigration representation unit of the Alameda county public defender’s office, said.

Under the new plan, starting 3 February, detainees held at the Mesa Verde Ice processing facility in Bakersfield will have their cases heard before judges in the Van Nuys immigration court, which opened last November.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/17/us-immigration-hearings-trump-san-francisco-california

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Just when you think they can't get more deplorable.

[COLGATE4]

2. More fascistic moves by Miller. What a piece of human

garbage he is. If he had lived in the 1930's he would have been first in line to be a Kapo.