39% of NY Immigration Detainees Have Meritorious Claims

The volunteer lawyers and law students of the City Bar’s NYC Know Your Rights Project (a collaboration of the City Bar Justice Center, The Legal Aid Society and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, NYC Chapter) have issued a report on immigrant detainees. The executive summary follows:

The purpose of the collaboration is to increase access to legal advice and information for the detainees held at the Varick Facility by recruiting, training, and mentoring private law firm volunteers to staff a regularweekly clinic at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Lower Manhattan. The report is based on data on 158 detainees counseled at Varick by pro bono volunteers between December 11, 2008 through July 9, 2009.

We found 39.2% of the detainees had possible meritorious claims for relief from removal. The most common forms of relief were cancellation of removal; asylum; withholding of removal, and/or relief under the Convention Against Torture; nonimmigrant visas including U and S visas; 212(c) relief; and adjustment of status under 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
In addition we found 10% of detainees we interviewed had been granted bond, but the amount was set so high that they could not raise the funds and thus remained housed in the facility. We also experienced detainees we met with being shipped to other parts of the country where access to counsel is even less likely than in the New York metropolitan area, sometimes
before the volunteer could finish researching the case. This report recommends that there be government-funded appointed counsel for all detained immigrants who cannot afford private counsel. Despite our best efforts and the diligence of our volunteers, we were only able to help 10 detainees a week at the NYC Know Your Rights Clinic. Cllickhere for more.

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