Send Hayley to Jail
Hi friends,
As you probably know, I practice immigration law and represent many Central American families fleeing near certain death. As you also probably know, the current administration is working tirelessly to make it harder for those who have been persecuted and fear persecution to be granted asylum in the United States. As the administration is doing everything it can, so must I.
For that reason, in the end of April 2019, I will be joining other attorneys at the border to work with detained families at the South Texas Family Detention Center in Dilley, Texas. The Dilley jail is the largest immigration jail in the US. It detains parents and their children (including babies) while they seek asylum in the United States.
I will be in Dilley for a week, working long hours and doing whatever those currently on-the-ground think is the most necessary. Volunteers are expected to be self-funded, so I'm hoping you will consider donating to my trip. I need to pay for airfare, food, lodging, etc., all while giving up a week of work at my Baltimore office. Any extra funds raised will be given to CARA, the organization that has been working to close Dilley down for years (http://caraprobono.org/).
Thanks for all your help!
- Hayley
EXTRA INFO
What is asylum anyway?
Asylum is a legal protection given to people already in the United States who meet the definition of a refugee under international law (and under the laws of the US). It's a person who fears being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, political opinion, or particular social group. In order to apply for asylum, one must already be present on US soil- it's not something that you can apply for at an embassy. It is also not a crime to be in the United States seeking asylum.
How does someone end up in Dilley?
When an asylum seeker is arrested at the border, they are placed in processing first by CBP. Many of my clients discuss being kept in the "hieleras" (the ice box) where they were freezing cold, causing them to become sick. If you think about a baby being kept in a room with no way to get warm, or a person who is wet from the river and placed into a cold room, you get why this is a problem. Some asylum seekers are placed in processing facilities called "perreras" (dog kennels because of what they look like). Once formally processed, the asylum seeker ends up in Dilley awaiting further steps to apply for asylum. Many of my clients in Baltimore have first gone through Dilley.
What are you going to do in Dilley?
- "Encouraging otherwise unlawfully present clients to make false claims of asylum providing them with the magic words needed to trigger the credible fear process." and "Using all their talents and skills work every day ... like water seeping through an earthen dam to get around the plain words of (immigration law) to advance their clients' interests" - Jeff Sessions, Attorney General of the United States.
- "Tell[ing] these people exactly what to say. They say, “Say the following:” — they write it down — “I am being harmed in my country. My country is extremely dangerous. I fear for my life.” “Say that. Congratulations. You’ll never be removed.” This is given to them by lawyers who are waiting for them to come up. ... But, in a way, that’s cheating because they’re giving them statements." - Donald Trump, President of the United States
-----insert eye rolling emoji here----
-----insert meme about me being sarcastic here----
-----insert photo of me bashing my head into a wall in complete and utter frustration at the fact that our government leaders have zero idea how immigration law works and try consistently to undermine legitimate paths to lawful status and pretend to criminalize asylum seekers as frauds in an effort to play to their base...here-----
OK, so what are you really going to be doing in Dilley?
It's hard to say. The huge uncertainty is that we don't know what the administration/Congress/SCOTUS is going to do with immigration law, especially asylum law, between now and April. Add to that, the Attorney General has certified a case to himself, where we anticipate he will order that detained asylum seekers be jailed indefinitely during their court case, rather than being able to having bond hearings and post bond (see https://www.aclu.org/blog/immigrants-rights/deportation-and-due-process/how-jeff-sessions-attacking-immigration-judges).
But in general, I could be doing things like preparing women for their credible fear interviews, translating evidence from Spanish into English, preparing asylum applications, attending negative credible fear reviews in court, bond hearings, or full blown asylum trials.
What other organizations do you recommend I support?
I get this question a lot by very generous friends that are looking to donate to worthy causes. If that's the case and you have detained families on your mind, might I suggest...
- RAICES the go-to non profit for family separation issues. I know the RAICES attorneys personally. They have helped me when my clients were detained in Texas. They are a godsend. (https://www.raicestexas.org/)
- ACLU. I know, I too sometimes feel skeptical about giving money to big name organizations. But do you know what? ACLU attorneys have helped me so much this year on my kids cases. And perhaps the biggest benefit, they're suing right now over Session's attempt to re-write asylum law to prevent domestic violence and gang based cases (https://www.aclu.org/cases/grace-v-sessions)
- Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) and Catholic Charities of Baltimore - the Esperanza Center- both of these organizations work in Baltimore with immigrant youth seeking asylum and work with the community to raise awareness about immigration-related issues. (https://supportkind.org/) (https://www.catholiccharities-md.org/services/immigration/)
- ALDEA, because family detention centers aren't just at the border. Did you know there's one in Pennsylvania? ALDEA works to help those detained at the Burkes Detention Center. (https://aldeapjc.org/)
