Stewart Detention Center Pilots Videoconferencing for Attorney-Client Meetings

The Southern Poverty Law Center has shared that DHS and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) have installed a video teleconferencing system at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, GA that will allow attorneys to hold free, one-hour sessions via Skype to speak with detainees for attorney-client meetings.  A coalition of civil rights organizations, pro bono law firms, and law school clinics took part in the advocacy effort to make this resource available.

Given how difficult it can be for lawyers to hold a simple client meeting with immigrant detainees due to the remote location of many detention facilities and the security procedures required for in-person meetings, this development seems promising in terms of its potential to increase access to counsel for noncitizens in immigration detention.  (The Stewart Detention Center appears to be about a two and a half hour drive from Atlanta, GA and Montgomery, AL, and almost a 3-hour drive from Tallahasee, FL).

-JKoh