Cuban Asylum-Seekers Held at Gitmo Denied Access to Counsel

Carolina Bolado, Law360, July 8, 2016- "A Florida federal judge ruled Friday that a group of Cubans seeking entry into the U.S. after being apprehended on a lighthouse off the Florida Keys won't be granted access to counsel during the course of their legal proceedings because they are not being kept involuntarily by the government. ... "As the plaintiffs are not being involuntarily detained by the government, the court finds that there is no constitutional or statutory basis for compelling the government to grant attorneys access to plaintiffs," the judge said. "Any attorney access will necessarily occur because of a voluntary decision by the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security or the attorney general." ... The case is Movimiento Democracia Inc. et al. v. Johnson et al., case number 1:16-cv-21868, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida."