Denverite: Immigration attorneys sue for the release of “14 medically-vulnerable people” detained in Aurora
On Tuesday, the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), law firm Arnold & Porter and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) filed suit in Denver district court, demanding operators of the Aurora Contract Detention Facility release “14 medically-vulnerable people currently held in civil immigration detention” from the immigration prison. The filers fear what may happen if detainees contract COVID-19.
The Colorado Independent: Attorneys sue ICE to release medically vulnerable detainees from Aurora detention center
Immigration attorneys on Tuesday sued ICE and GEO Group, which operates a detention center in Aurora, in an effort to release medically at-risk detainees with underlying health conditions.
Law360: ICE Detainees In Colo. Want Release From Virus 'Hotbed'
In a new lawsuit, attorneys asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release 14 immigrants, many of whom are HIV positive, from detention at the Aurora, Colorado, facility, warning that these facilities are a “hotbed for spread of the virus” and that only release will shield these high-risk individuals from contracting the disease.
Palabra: Direct Exposure
RMIAN’s Ashley Harrington describes the plight of one client’s brother, an unaccompanied minor who’d been released from government custody after requesting asylum, and other stories of hardship among immigrants amid COVID-19.
Medically-Vulnerable Immigrants Detained by ICE in Aurora, Colorado Seek Immediate Release Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
Today, Arnold & Porter, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) sued for the release of 14 medically-vulnerable people currently held in civil immigration detention at the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado, citing the severe risk the COVID-19 pandemic poses to their health and safety. Several of the petitioners are transgender women living with HIV, and all the petitioners have serious medical vulnerabilities that make them especially susceptible to serious illness or death should they contract COVID-19. The ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado has failed to put in place CDC-recommended preventive measures, and is unable to provide adequate medical care in the event of an outbreak at the facility.
Medically-Vulnerable Immigrants Detained by ICE in Aurora, Colorado Seek Immediate Release Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic
Detained Individuals File Urgent Petition for Release from Detention Center where Several Staff Have Tested Positive for COVID-19
For Immediate Release
April 14, 2020
Contact:
Adrienne Boyd, Arnold & Porter, Adrienne.Boyd@arnoldporter.com, 303-863-2393
Sirine Shebaya, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, sshebaya@nipnlg.org, 202-656-4788
Laura Lunn, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, llunn@rmian.org, 406-426-1364
Denver — Today, Arnold & Porter, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) sued for the release of 14 medically-vulnerable people currently held in civil immigration detention at the Aurora ICE Processing Center in Colorado, citing the severe risk the COVID-19 pandemic poses to their health and safety. Several of the petitioners are transgender women living with HIV, and all the petitioners have serious medical vulnerabilities that make them especially susceptible to serious illness or death should they contract COVID-19. The ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado has failed to put in place CDC-recommended preventive measures, and is unable to provide adequate medical care in the event of an outbreak at the facility.
The complaint and accompanying emergency motion for release filed today caution that the inevitability of a coronavirus outbreak in this facility renders the continued detention of these individuals a potential death sentence for immigrants detained at the facility.
Download the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order Memo.
“When people around the world are social distancing, RMIAN’s clients in immigration detention describe conditions where they can reach out and touch the person laying in the bed next to them. The individuals in this case have underlying medical conditions that mean that exposure and infection to COVID-19 may be a death sentence for them,” said Laura Lunn, Managing Attorney of the Detention Program at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. “They have no way of creating a shield between themselves and the hundreds of other people at the Aurora facility.”
According to an expert declaration filed by Dr. Carlos Franco-Paredes, a University of Colorado infectious disease expert, it is impossible for the detention facilities to comply with CDC guidelines around social distancing, quarantine, and treatment. He predicts the facility’s rudimentary medical units will quickly become overwhelmed. Dr. Franco-Paredes states that the attack rate of new infections inside Aurora detention center may reach exponential proportions if left unchecked. The plaintiffs themselves report that the detention facilities have not provided those detained with any information about coronavirus beyond basics of handwashing, including guidelines for preventing it or virus symptoms; that many are housed in open dorms with beds only a few feet apart; and that staff cycle through the dormitories regularly without wearing masks or gloves.
Detained people do not have personal protective equipment or cleaning supplies other than a generic bath bar and spray solution. In recent days, five staff members who work in the facility have tested positive for the virus, and several dorm units in the facility were placed under quarantine. Given the presence of the virus among the facility staff, attorneys say it is reasonable to suspect that detained individuals have already been exposed and that serious illness or death for many immigrants and asylum seekers confined there is inevitable.
“ICE’s needless detention of people in the immigration system has always been excessive, but in the current circumstances, it is also recklessly endangering lives,” said Sirine Shebaya, Executive Director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. “ICE is fully aware of the risks involved in detaining people — especially those who are medically vulnerable or who are housed in facilities that have long histories of poor conditions. Their continued detention shines a clear light on the bloated system of mass incarceration that our immigration authorities are continuing to hold onto, even in the face of a public health emergency. It shouldn’t take an emergency lawsuit to obtain their release.”
The 14 detained plaintiffs include 11 transgender women, most of whom are living with HIV and have weakened immune systems. The women report paralyzing fears of falling ill with COVID-19. As a result, they are taking every precaution within their control and refraining from going to the recreation area or the law library.
“Transgender individuals face extraordinary vulnerability, abuse, and neglect in ICE detention even when we are not facing a global pandemic,” says Allegra Love of the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, an organization that represents many of the transgender women. “Over the last four weeks we have given ICE every opportunity to make the respectful, dignified and life-saving decision to release our clients. Since they have failed, it is time to ask the court to intervene.”
The clients included in this group all experience serious health issues, including respiratory illness, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions, cancer, asthma, and otherwise severely compromised immune systems. One petitioner has a history of cancer, is living with only one lung, and has chronic asthma, yet she is unable to control her contact with the outside world given that she is currently detained. Attorneys say coronavirus quarantines have exacerbated the already dire conditions in the ICE facility.
Timothy Macdonald, pro bono counsel for the petitioners at Arnold & Porter, said: “In these unprecedented times, it is critically important to protect those who are the most vulnerable in our community. Our clients faced unthinkable circumstances at home and came to this country seeking asylum. We cannot consign them to a COVID-death sentence because of the inadequate conditions in immigration detention facilities.”
“We believe strongly in the dignity of every human being and will work tirelessly to secure their release,” Adrienne Boyd, pro bono counsel for the petitioners at Arnold & Porter added. The complaint filed today argues that it is simply not possible for the detention center to implement COVID-19 protocols such as social distancing (maintaining a distance of at least six feet between oneself and others), preventive hygiene, and the medical isolation of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases and that this creates a risk of death and other harm that violates constitutional protections ensuring adequate care and preventing deliberate indifference to obvious medical risks.
Still, the people being detained are resolute in advocating for themselves and the others who live and work in the facility.
“If the virus befalls one person here, it will befall everyone here,” the lead plaintiff, Jennifer Codner, a Jamaican native and transgender woman who has high blood pressure and other health conditions, said in her declaration. “The virus does not discriminate and no one will be safe. Because we are at the mercy of this place, there is no way to ensure our own health.” In light of this pandemic, she is reminded of the words of Nelson Mandela, who said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.
Co-counsel in the case are Timothy Macdonald, Adrienne Boyd, Katie Custer, and Sarah Grey of Arnold & Porter, Sirine Shebaya, Khaled Alrabe, and Amber Qureshi of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and Laura Lunn of the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network.
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With nearly 1,000 lawyers practicing in 14 offices around the globe, Arnold & Porter serves clients across 40 distinct practice areas. The firm offers 100 years of renowned regulatory expertise, sophisticated litigation and transactional practices, and leading multidisciplinary offerings in the life sciences and financial services industries.
The National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) is a national non-profit organization that provides technical assistance and support to community-based immigrant organizations, legal practitioners, and all advocates seeking and working to advance the rights of noncitizens. NIPNLG utilizes impact litigation, advocacy, and public education to pursue its mission. Follow NIPNLG on social media: National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild on Facebook, @NIPNLG on Twitter.
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) is a nonprofit organization that provides critical immigration legal services to individuals in immigration detention, as well as to children and families throughout Colorado. Follow RMIAN on social media: The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network on Facebook, @RMIAN_org on Twitter.
The case is Codner v. Choate and was filed in federal district court in Denver.
The Colorado Trust: For Undocumented Workers, More Risk and Little Safety Net
Undocumented people in the United States face a unique set of vulnerabilities that other marginalized communities are at least somewhat inured from. Unless they have work authorization or some other protected status, undocumented immigrants can’t tap the beefed-up unemployment benefits Congress approved last month, nor will they receive a one-time stimulus check. Those who still have jobs can’t take paid sick leave if they develop symptoms or have to stay home to care for a family member who takes ill.
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.