ACLU Sues to Make
Bail More Affordable for Illegal Immigrants
by Caroline May12 Apr 2016
The government should consider individuals’ financial
resources when setting the bond amount for aliens in removal proceedings, the
ACLU argues.
In a class lawsuit
filed this month, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the
ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project say the federal government sets unacceptably
high bond amounts for foreign nationals in deportation proceedings because it
fails to consider their ability to pay. The result, the ACLU argues, is
lengthier incarceration rates for poorer aliens.
The suit names Cesar Matias, a Honduran national fighting
deportation by seeking asylum, and Xochitl Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from
Mexico
convicted of shoplifting, as plaintiffs in the suit. ACLU charges their bail is
too high for them to pay and violates their rights. Matias’ bail is $3,000 and
Hernandez’s bail is $60,000.
“Poverty or lack of financial resources should not
deprive a person of his or her freedom while in civil immigration proceedings,”
Michael Kaufman, an ACLU SoCal attorney, said in a statement. “Such detention
violates the due process and equal protection guarantees of the Fifth
Amendment, the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Bail Clause and immigration
laws.”
The ACLU further argues that the current trajectory of
the criminal justice system has been to move toward fee policies that do not
adversely affect lower income defendants, and while immigration proceedings are
a civil matter, it says they should reflect the changing times.
“At a time when state and federal criminal justice
systems are moving to reform the fees and financial constraints that unfairly
affect low-income individuals, the federal government’s immigration detention
practices continue to deprive some immigrants of their liberty because they are
poor,” added Michael Tan, an ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project attorney.
While the ACLU is pressing for the government to change
its policies to allow for the bonded release of more immigrants in removal
proceedings, Center for Immigration Studies fellow Dan Cadman says the ACLU’s
lawsuit “shouldn’t go anywhere” because regardless of the cost, the intent is
to ensure that the alien shows up for court. The problem is, already many
aliens in removal proceedings abscond.
“There are already nearly a million aliens on the streets
of America today who have absconded from proceedings. That’s right, nearly a
million,” Cadman wrote in a post
Tuesday at CIS. “That is because many of them realize that losing whatever
surety or collateral they put forward is cheap at the price if they can flee
and stay hidden long enough. Given a population of more-or-less 12 million
illegal aliens — and a shrinking cadre of immigration officers hamstrung by
absurdist rules imposed by an administration bent on destroying the fabric of
our immigration control system (even as they declare it ‘broken,’ as if their
hands were clean) — staying hidden is an easy enough thing to do.”
ACLU
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Note: George Soros is the
founder & chairman for the Open
Society Foundations, a director emeritus for Refugees International, a board member for the International Crisis Group, and was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Refugees International, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Carlos Pascual is
a director at the Atlantic Council of
the United States (think tank), was a U.S. ambassador for Mexico, and a VP for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Ernesto Zedillo was
a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and the president of Mexico.
John D. Negroponte
was a U.S. ambassador for Mexico, a U.S. ambassador for Honduras, and an EVP for McGraw Hill Financial Inc.
Pedro
Aspe was a secretary of the treasury for Mexico, a director at McGraw
Hill Financial Inc., and a trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Lois Dickson
Fitt was a director at McGraw Hill
Financial Inc., a guest scholar at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and is Susan
E. Rice’s mother.
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Susan E. Rice is Lois Dickson Fitt’s daughter, the White
House national security adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Lee H. Hamilton is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, and David F. Hamilton’s uncle.
David F. Hamilton
is Lee H. Hamilton’s nephew, and was
a canvasser for the Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was the plaintiff in ACORN
vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the legal adviser for Association
of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, and the attorney for ACORN vs.
Illinois State Board of Elections.
Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden Martin is
counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and
the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is
a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Carnegie
Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Pedro
Aspe was a trustee at the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, a secretary of the treasury for Mexico, and a director at McGraw Hill Financial Inc.
John D. Negroponte
was a U.S. ambassador for Mexico, a U.S.
ambassador for Honduras, and an EVP
for McGraw Hill Financial Inc.
Lois Dickson
Fitt was a director at McGraw Hill
Financial Inc., a guest scholar at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and is Susan
E. Rice’s mother.
Susan E. Rice is Lois Dickson Fitt’s daughter, the White
House national security adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Lee H. Hamilton is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a co-chair for the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future, and David F. Hamilton’s uncle.
Carlos Pascual iwas
a VP for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), a U.S. ambassador for Mexico,
and a director at the Atlantic Council
of the United States (think tank).
Ernesto Zedillo was
the president of Mexico, and a board
member for the International Crisis
Group.
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