Denver Post: Start Releasing People from the Immigration Detention Centers
RMIAN Executive Director, Mekela Goehring, and Dr. Jaime Moo-Young wrote this OpEd in the Denver Post demanding that ICE “immediately release anyone at heightened risk of death or serious illness from COVID-19, including those over 60 and/or those with underlying medical conditions.” They write that this measure is essential to reduce virus spread and loss of life. Read more here.
Law Week Colorado: Immigration Advocates Call for Detainees' Release
In response to the first confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Aurora immigrant detention facility, legal advocates for those detained by ICE are calling for detainees’ release, in the interest of protecting the detainees and public health. RMIAN’s Sarah Plastino tells Law Week Colorado, “A pandemic of COVID-19 racing through the facility would likely result in the death or serious illness of many immigrants and asylum seekers who should not be detained in the first place.”
Free Webinar: Detention During the COVID-19 Pandemic - What Is Happening and How You Can Help
RMIAN’s Laura Lunn will participate on a panel with other national experts to discuss what is happening in immigration detention centers and immigration courts around the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, how the federal agencies in charge are continuing to put everyone at risk, and what you can do to help. The webinar is hosted by the American Immigration Council (AIC), American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and the American Immigrant Representation Project (AIRP).
Denverite: ICE employee tests positive for COVID-19 and immigration court closed at GEO’s Aurora prison
The Aurora Immigration Court will be closed today, Thursday March 26, after an ICE staff member tested positive for COVID-19. RMIAN’s Laura Lunn told Denverite that “the hearings should have stopped sooner, given the difficulties people have had, because their time in court ‘will determine the entire outcome of their lives.’” RMIAN attorneys have been working tirelessly to get people out on bail or parole to avoid the virus. “It’s fine until it’s not fine,” Lunn says in the article. “As soon as there’s one case, it’s gonna be really really hard for them to contain it.”
RMIAN Response to COVID-19
As our community navigates the spread of COVID-19, RMIAN is taking steps to promote the overall health and safety of its staff members, clients, and volunteers. RMIAN is transitioning to remote work beginning today, Monday, March 16, 2020. We have taken these steps to do our part in flattening the curve and mitigating the community transmission of the virus.
As our community navigates the spread of COVID-19, RMIAN is taking steps to promote the overall health and safety of its staff members, clients, and volunteers. RMIAN is transitioning to remote work beginning today, Monday, March 16, 2020. We have taken these steps to do our part in flattening the curve and mitigating the community transmission of the virus.
Although our physical office will be closed to external visitors, we will remain hard at work (most of us remotely) to meet the critical needs of RMIAN clients and will continue to provide essential legal services to adults and children in Colorado, for both those in immigration detention and those outside of detention.
We will continue support for community members in need, especially the most vulnerable.
RMIAN will continue to provide know-your-rights presentations and individual intakes to individuals held at the GEO/ICE immigration detention center in Aurora. We are working with the facility to operationalize telephonic and videoconference tools to provide these presentations and to communicate with clients. RMIAN is similarly working with the Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter in Westminster to provide legal services remotely to children held in custody. RMIAN's staff attorneys will be continuing to provide essential representation for all of our clients.
Vulnerable populations will confront increased risk from COVID-19 and those held in detention centers are particularly vulnerable at this time. RMIAN staff members made the challenging decision to pause these in-person presentations out of an abundance of caution for those who are in detention and already at high risk. RMIAN will be fiercely advocating in the coming weeks for the release of particularly vulnerable client populations, including those who are elderly or immunocompromised, and continuing to provide critical legal services to community members in need.
We will adapt to meet our responsibilities to RMIAN's volunteer network.
Beginning today, RMIAN will be conducting meetings and volunteer trainings by phone or video conference. This includes our upcoming asylum training designed for attorneys new to immigration law. Additional information will be sent to the participants in the coming weeks.
We are sending regular updates to pro bono attorneys with guidance particular to COVID-19 and partial closures of the immigration court system. If you are a volunteer with an active case and have questions, please contact Colleen Cowgill about Detention Program cases (probonodetention@rmian.org) or Natalie Petrucci about Children's Program cases (probonochildrens@rmian.org).
Individuals in detention will still be able to call RMIAN's Hotline and non-detained community members may contact RMIAN's office (303-433-2812) during this time. On behalf of RMIAN, thank you for your support and flexibility as we navigate this global health crisis together.
Immigrant Liberty Awards Postponed
In light of recent recommendations from health experts and government officials, RMIAN has made the decision to protect the health of our community at large by tentatively rescheduling the event to Friday, August 28, 2020. This decision will ensure that all the conditions are optimal to celebrate the accomplishments of our community and to raise the resources necessary to support RMIAN's work.
In light of recent recommendations from health experts and government officials, RMIAN has made the decision to protect the health of our community at large by tentatively rescheduling the event to Friday, August 28, 2020.
This decision will ensure that all the conditions are optimal to celebrate the accomplishments of our community and to raise the resources necessary to support RMIAN's work.
All sponsorships, tables, and tickets already purchased will be honored at this later date. If you are unable to attend the rescheduled event or with any other questions, please contact My Lo Cook, Director of Development, at mlocook@rmian.org.
We recognize the impact that COVID-19 has already had on Coloradoans and people around the world, and we are keeping those affected in our hearts. During all of this, RMIAN stays committed to provide life-saving services to detained and non-detained individuals going through immigration proceedings (see above). If you are able to support RMIAN in the interim, you will be helping us stand in solidarity by our clients during this period of uncertainty. Thank you!
RMIAN to Co-Host Two Free Legal Trainings in March
Please join the Colorado Lawyers Committee (CLC), the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) and the Immigration Justice Campaign (IJC) for a FREE training to ensure justice for adult and children asylum-seekers in Colorado.
This program will train attorneys to provide pro bono representation to asylum-seekers in Colorado, with a particular focus on representing children and families, as well as individuals in civil immigration detention in Colorado. This training is designed for attorneys new to immigration law.
Free Legal Webinar Training: Asylum 101—Representing Asylum Seekers
Please join the Colorado Lawyers Committee (CLC), the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) and the Immigration Justice Campaign (IJC) for a FREE training to ensure justice for adult and children asylum-seekers in Colorado.
This program will train attorneys to provide pro bono representation to asylum-seekers in Colorado, with a particular focus on representing children and families, as well as individuals in civil immigration detention in Colorado. This training is designed for attorneys new to immigration law.
The training is free for attorneys who agree to take a pro bono immigration case through RMIAN. RMIAN will screen potential pro bono cases, pair attorneys with clients, and provide legal resources, mentoring, and professional liability insurance to pro bono attorneys. IJC partners with RMIAN to provide resources, samples, and group mentoring for volunteer attorneys working on detained cases.
WHEN: The training is in two parts (we suggest you plan to attend both)**
Part 1: March 24, 2020 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 Basics of Asylum Law
This segment will include Asylum 101 and Current Barriers Facing Asylum Seekers
Part 2: March 31, 2020 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 Asylum Practice and Procedure
This segment will include How to Prepare and Present an Asylum Case and Special Tips
WHERE: Webinar/Teleseminar. Please note that, due to concerns around the coronavirus
(COVID-19), this training will now take place remotely only. Please register via the link below. Details for participation will be emailed separately.
TRAINERS:
Colleen Cowgill, Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney, Detention Program, RMIAN
Ashley Harrington, Children's Program Managing Attorney, RMIAN
Tilman Jacobs, Staff Attorney, Detention Program, RMIAN
Laura Lunn, Detention Program Managing Attorney, RMIAN
Natalie Petrucci, Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney, Children's Program, RMIAN
Sarah Plastino, Senior Staff Attorney, Detention Program, RMIAN
Mayra Prieto, Detention Program Coordinator, RMIAN
Laura Shoaps, Attorney Fellow, Detention Program, RMIAN
Charles Vernon, Senior Staff Attorney, Detention Program, RMIAN
TO REGISTER: please visit https://www.coloradolawyerscommittee.org/asylum-training
QUESTIONS: Please contact Colleen Cowgill, Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney, Detention Program, RMIAN: ccowgill@rmian.org
**Both trainings will be recorded and available on the RMIAN website. If you can’t attend the first training, you can receive CLE credit by watching it online before the second training.
Webinar: Representing Noncitizens with Mental Illness in Removal Proceedings
Managing Attorney of RMIAN’s Detention Program, Laura Lunn, will co-present a webinar hosted by CLINIC on Representing Noncitizens with Mental Illness in Removal Proceedings on April 24, 2020. This webinar will provide an overview of the legal protections afforded to these noncitizens and will review best practices for working with noncitizens struggling with mental illness. More information here.
RMIAN Spring Volunteer Translator and Interpreter Training
RMIAN will host a training for Volunteer Interpreters and Translators at its office later this month. This is an opportunity for both current and new volunteers to meet one another and learn more about RMIAN’s work. Spanish is the most frequently needed language but all languages are welcome.
RMIAN will host a training for Volunteer Interpreters and Translators at its office later this month. This is an opportunity for both current and new volunteers to meet one another and learn more about RMIAN’s work. Spanish is the most frequently needed language but all languages are welcome. See event information below.
What: Volunteer Interpreter & Translator Training and Meet & Greet
When: Thursday, March 26, 2020 - 5:30-6:15pm Meet & Greet (All Welcome) - 6:15-7:30pm New Volunteer Training (Required to Volunteer with RMIAN)
Where: RMIAN’s Office - Chase Bank Building (3rd Floor), 7301 Federal Blvd. Ste. 300 Westminster, CO 80030
Who: Individuals 18 years or older who speak English and one or more other languages who would like to volunteer to provide volunteer language interpretation and/or translation skills for RMIAN clients.
To attend, please RSVP here by March 20th. Email lklafehn@rmian.org with any questions.
RMIAN Receives 2020 Civil Rights Award from Anti-Defamation League
RMIAN is honored to have been awarded a 2020 Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States.
RMIAN Stands Up for Detained Transgender Asylum Seekers
In response to the recent transfer of a group of transgender asylum seekers from Cibola Correctional Center, in Cibola, New Mexico, to Aurora ICE Processing Center, in Aurora, Colorado, RMIAN immediately began working with community partners and mobilizing its resources to ensure legal representation and medical care for this group.
RMIAN Providing Urgent Legal Services and Advocacy to New Population of Transgender Asylum Seekers Confined in Aurora ICE Detention Center
In response to the recent transfer of a group of transgender asylum seekers from Cibola Correctional Center, in Cibola, New Mexico, to Aurora ICE Processing Center, in Aurora, Colorado, RMIAN immediately began working with community partners and mobilizing its resources to ensure legal representation and medical care for this group.
“RMIAN believes that everyone in immigration proceedings should have a lawyer by their side, fighting for their rights every step of the way. For transgender individuals in immigration detention--who have to navigate isolation and physical and mental health deterioration-- the need for zealous legal representation and advocacy is even more acute,” said RMIAN Executive Director Mekela Goehring.
In addition to providing free legal services and free legal representation through its own staff attorneys and social workers, RMIAN is working with other community organizations, as well as medical providers, to ensure holistic support for these individuals. Of the people transferred who were unrepresented when they arrived in Aurora, RMIAN is proud to say that all cases have been placed with either a RMIAN staff attorney or pro bono counsel so that every woman now has legal representation. RMIAN is working closely with the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, the organization that advocated for the group in Cibola, to provide this continuity of legal services.
Allegra Love, Santa Fe Dreamers Project Executive Director, states, “After two and half years of working with detained trans women in Cibola County, it felt violent and scary to have our clients transferred without notice in the middle of the night. But by activating our relationship with RMIAN, we are now working together to not only ensure a consistency of legal services, but to also elevate our fight against the entire system of trans detention collectively with the Colorado community.”
Transgender people, especially transgender women, are uniquely vulnerable in immigration detention. Not only do transgender migrants face transphobic harassment and sexual assault in detention, they are disproportionately likely to have urgent medical needs, and to be placed in solitary confinement.
Earlier this month, a coalition of 90 migrant and LGBTQI rights groups, including RMIAN, demanded that ICE immediately release all transgender people in its custody.
If you are a lawyer interested in providing pro bono representation or would like to offer your support, please contact Detention Program Pro Bono Coordinating Staff Attorney Colleen Cowgill at probonodetention@rmian.org.
RMIAN Volunteer Attorney, Phil Barber, Featured in Boulder Weekly
Longtime RMIAN volunteer attorney, Phil Barber, talks to the Boulder Weekly about the pro bono legal services he provides through RMIAN and the impact that his asylum seeking clients have had in his life and on his career representing communities in the oil and gas fight.
Wage Theft Clinic for Workers
On Tuesday, January 28, El Centro Humanitario para los Trabajadores and Towards Justice will be hosting a Wage Theft Clinic for Workers from 3:30-5:30pm at the Athmar Library Branch in Denver. More information on the Clinic can be found here.
RMIAN Joins Community Coalition Demanding the Release of All Transgender People in ICE Custody
RMIAN joined a coalition of 90 human rights organizations on January 21st demanding the release of all transgender people currently held in ICE custody. The coalition of organizations, led by the National Immigrant Justice Center & The TransLatin@ Coalition, are calling for immediate release for transgender individuals due to ICE’s failure to comply with a 2015 memorandum which sets out basic minimums of care for transgender people and the inevitable harms immigration detention causes transgender people. Read the letter here.
RMIAN's Megan Hope Co-Authors Article on Providing Services to Detained Immigrants
RMIAN Social Service Project Director, Megan Hope, co-authored an article about a relationship-based approach to self-care for lawyers, social workers, and others working with people with serious mental illness in immigration detention. The article, “Self-Care in an Interprofessional Setting Providing Services to Detained Immigrants with Serious Mental Health Conditions,” was recently published in the national journal Social Work in January 2020.
RMIAN Social Service Project to Present at Social Work Conference
Director of RMIAN’s Social Service Project, Megan Hope, and RMIAN Social Worker, Cindy Schlosser, will present at the 2nd Annual Social Work Mental & Behavioral Health Conference in Denver on Friday, January 31st. This gathering of professionals, researchers, and students allows for an in-depth exchange of current information on all facets of violence, abuse and trauma prevention, intervention and research. The event is hosted by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Department of Social Work.
RMIAN Staff to Participate in DU Civil Rights Summit: All Rise
Two RMIAN staff members, Lucia Ornelas & Laura Shoaps, will participate in the upcoming 2nd Annual DU Civil Rights Summit: All Rise. This event, which includes local attorneys, leaders, organizers, community members, and students, is organized by University of Denver Sturm College of Law students and aims to connect and inspire Colorado’s civil rights community.
RMIAN to Receive Civil Rights Award from Anti-Defamation League
RMIAN is honored to be selected as a recipient of the 2020 Civil Rights Awards, presented by the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region. The awards ceremony will take place in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver on February 12th. Information about the event a fellow awardees can be found here.
RMIAN Announces 2020 Immigrant Liberty Award Honorees
RMIAN has announced the honorees for the 15th annual Immigrant Liberty Awards. The ceremony will celebrate the honorees’ extraordinary contributions to Colorado’s immigrant and refugee communities during an evening gala themed “Here to Stay,” to be held in the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 1, 2020.
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) has announced the honorees for the 15th annual Immigrant Liberty Awards. The ceremony will celebrate the honorees’ extraordinary contributions to Colorado’s immigrant and refugee communities during an evening gala themed “Here to Stay,” to be held in the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 1, 2020.
Each year, RMIAN presents the Immigrant Liberty Awards to recognize the unwavering work of exceptional community members to advance the rights and wellbeing of immigrants and refugees in Colorado, allowing them to thrive in their communities. In 2020, the honorees are Jason Crow, U.S. Representative for Colorado’s 6th Congressional District; Araceli Calderón de Weis, Parent Involvement Coordinator for Centennial BOCES; and Marissa Molina, Colorado State Immigration Manager of FWD.us.
Congressman Crow has worked tirelessly with human rights advocates and local government officials to champion the rights of immigrants and refugees by bringing critical national attention to U.S. immigration detention conditions and by increasing oversight of the privately operated facility in Aurora through the creation of the first of its kind ICE Accountability Report in July 2019. This oversight report, written after weekly on-site visits by Crow and staff, provides transparency and accountability to the detention system by monitoring the wellbeing of detained immigrants and refugees and the public health risks to the community. Crow has introduced the Public Oversight of Detention Center (POD) Act to ensure that Congress has oversight access to all detention facilities. He also helped introduce the Refugee Protection Act to support refugees, including setting a 95,000 minimum admission level, update the asylum process, improve the Special Immigrant Visas program, and support immigrant children.
Since before coming to the U.S. in 2004, Araceli Calderón de Weis was a champion for community involvement in policy making in her native Mexico. In her role as Parent Involvement Coordinator at Centennial BOCES, Ms. Calderón de Weis has dedicated her life in Greeley, Colorado to promote the inclusion of immigrant and refugee voices in the spheres of community building and policy setting in northern Colorado. Her work through local educational and cultural programming is a remarkable example of advocacy for immigrant rights through community empowerment.
As Colorado State Immigration Manager with FWD.us, Marissa Molina's advocacy work was critical to galvanize statewide efforts to expand access to drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants in Colorado. Ms. Molina's leadership continues to be a catalyst to protect the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and advance policies that increase access to opportunities for the immigrant community in Colorado. Her appointment in 2019 as the first DACA recipient to the Board of Trustees at Metropolitan State University of Denver is breaking grounds and a true reflection of immigrant contributions in Colorado.
RMIAN is also thrilled to recognize Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP with the 2020 Pro Bono Service Award. Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP (DGS) has been an invaluable partner with RMIAN for years in providing pro bono representation to individuals in detention and to children in immigration proceedings. In the last year, DGS attorneys have been pro bono champions in responding to the expanding detention of asylum seekers in Colorado. DGS attorneys have been instrumental in representing detained asylum seekers in credible fear proceedings, by taking a leadership role in RMIAN's Preparing Asylum Seekers for Success (PASS) Program including hosting trainings for lawyers from other law firms. Numerous DGS attorneys have also worked diligently to obtain protection for detained asylum seekers in danger of persecution and torture abroad.
This year’s event will include dinner, a live auction, and an awards ceremony. All proceeds from the event will go towards providing free immigration legal services to immigrant children and to adults in immigration detention.
For information about tickets or how to become an event sponsor, please contact libertyawards@rmian.org or visit www.rmian.org.
CPR - Number Of Unaccompanied Immigrant Children In Colorado More Than Doubles
RMIAN’s Ashley Harrington speaks with Colorado Public Radio about the increase in unaccompanied immigrant children coming to Colorado and the countless challenges that they face to get here and navigate the legal system. “Children as young as 2, 3, 5, 10 years old are forced to go forward in immigration court alone and try to apply for asylum alone without an attorney,” Harrington said. “While on the other side you have an attorney representing immigration and customs enforcement prosecuting the case.”