Settlement Guarantees Right to Counsel for Immigrants Caught Up in Raids

The Los Angeles Times reports that “[c]ivil rights groups . . . that they had reached a settlement with federal officials guaranteeing that workers nabbed in an immigration raid last month in Van Nuys can be accompanied by an attorney to all meetings and interrogations.

The settlement, finalized [last] Wednesday, was reached after groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the National Lawyers Guild and the National Immigration Law Center, sought a restraining order in federal court last month against federal immigration officials who they alleged had repeatedly blocked attorneys from accompanying workers to interviews. The settlement applies to about 130 workers at Micro Solutions Enterprises detained Feb. 7 on immigration violations. ”

KJ