NYC Bar Association’s Opposition to Expansion of Detention for Immigrant Mothers and Children - Letter to White House

"[T]he Administration’s plan to jail unprecedented numbers of families and young children while expediting their removal proceedings will lead to large-scale due process violations and the erroneous removals of legitimate refugees and others entitled to international protection. This plan ignores the national outcry over due process violations at Artesia and the myriad abuses that led the government to stop detaining families at the T. Don Hutto Detention Center in 2009. The plan also imposes unnecessary costs on taxpayers. We ask the Administration to slow its rush to detain families and to undertake a rigorous and thoughtful review of its family detention policies. The City Bar urges the Administration instead to ensure appearance at removal proceedings through supervision programs and other alternatives to detention. It further urges the Administration to provide appointed counsel and fair procedures to ensure that all removal proceedings respect due process of law." - NYCBA, Nov. 21, 2014.