Rough Week?

The Unknown Official by Magnús Tómasson in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Los Angeles Times: "Mother who fled Honduras 'to escape abuse, mistreatment' says 'it's the same' in U.S."

Ten immigrant women who have been held in controversial for-profit family Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers have filed complaints with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleging wide-ranging inadequate and neglectful medical care at the facilities. In their complaints, the women allege that they and their children were routinely denied adequate medical care, including:

•  A child vomiting blood was told to drink water and was not referred for off-site medical care for three days.

•  A woman with two broken fingers was denied medical care and advised to “drink more water.”

•  A woman with breast cancer was repeatedly denied medical treatment.

•  More than 250 children were mistakenly given adult doses of a Hepatitis A vaccine.

•  A 5-year-old was repeatedly transferred off site for medical care only to have on-site medical professionals later refuse to  issue prescribed medication.

One of the woman filing a complaint is a twenty-four-year-old Honduran held in Dilley, Texas with her five-year-old daughter. She alleges that it took weeks to get her sick daughter treated, and even after she sought assistance from the Honduran consulate, the detention center refused to prescribe the necessary medications. She said in the Los Angeles Times: “I thought I came to this country to escape abuse, mistreatment and disrespect...But it's the same here.”

Substandard Medical Care

Jonathan Ryan, executive director of San Antonio-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), one the organizations who assisted in filing the complaints, said to the Los Angeles Times: “The substandard medical care that these women have access to is one of the principal examples of ICE’s inability to manage family detention in a way that is safe...There are mothers and children in these facilities with significant, time-sensitive issues that are not being treated.”

Olivia Lopez, a licensed social worker who quit her job at the Karnes Detention Center, testified recently before Congress that women were being routinely denied adequate medical care and that she had been asked to withhold key medical information from their files, ignore medical complaints, and condone other “unethical” behavior that if ignored would jeopardize her license.

The End of Family Detention?

These complaints come after a July 24 ruling by federal district court Judge Dolly Gee in Flores v. Johnson that the Obama administration's policy of detaining children with their mothers in family detention centers violates the national Flores Settlement Agreement, which in 1997 set standards for the detention and treatment of immigrant children, and ordered the release of the children and their mothers.  

In a letter last Friday, Senators Patrick Leahy and Patty Murray called on DHS to comply with Judge Gee's ruling and “release the children and their mothers without delay” from the Karnes and Dilley detention centers:

The presumptive detention of families is a flawed policy. Most of the families currently detained traveled to the United States seeking refuge from three of the most dangerous countries in the world, countries where women and girls face shocking rates of domestic and sexual violence and gender violence, including murder. Treating these vulnerable women and children like criminals is simply wrong.

Apart from these complaints, for-profit detention centers have also come under criticism for abuses in the detainee work programs. Carl Takei, a staff attorney with the ACLU National Prison Project, told the Los Angeles Times after visiting the family detention center in Dilley, Texas: “We have a name for locking people up and forcing them to do real work without wages. It's called slavery[.]”

Boat Dance 2015

On the Hudson River looking at the George Washington Bridge.

Only hours after a huge summer thunderstorm with high winds and heavy rain (there may have even been some hail), our firm hosted our annual boat cruise around Manhattan. There was even some sunshine peeking through the clouds! This cruise, affectionately dubbed the "Boat Dance" by our former paralegal/office manager, Briana, is a great way for our staff to relax a little after a long day of preparing and filing visa cases. And bond. So much employee bonding going on. Success!

URGENT: Some DACA Recipients Who Received Three-Year Work Permits Must Return Them Immediately

US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has urgent news for some recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). A February 16, 2015 court order in Texas v. United States specified that USCIS should continue to approve DACA deferred action requests and related employment authorization documents (EAD) for two-year periods, notwithstanding President Obama’s executive actions of November 20. After Obama’s announcement, USCIS had been issuing certain DACA renewals and EAD cards for the three years specified under the Obama executive action.

Certain 3-year EAD cards mistakenly issued must be returned to USCIS

After the February 16, 2015, court injunction was in place, USCIS mistakenly issued approximately 2,100 EAD cards for a three-year period rather than the allowed two-year period. USCIS has therefore updated their records to reflect a two-year period of deferred action and employment authorization for these affected individuals and has re-issued and mailed out the corrected two-year EADs. USCIS has also notified these individuals that the three-year EADs are no longer valid and must be immediately returned, along with any related approval notices, to their local USCIS office. USCIS is tracking the number of returns of these invalid EADs and continues to take aggressive steps to collect the remaining cards.

Who can keep their 3-year EAD work cards? 

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USCIS has a helpful guide for DACA recipients.

After President Obama’s executive actions regarding immigration reform on November 20 last year, USCIS began to issue three-year EAD cards. The approximately 108,000 three-year EAD cards that were approved and mailed by USCIS after November 20 and received by DACA recipients before the February 16, 2015, injunction date (and that have never been returned or reissued by USCIS) do not need to be returned to USCIS.

Resources to determine if EAD card should be returned

Individuals who are required to return three-year EADs and have not done so will be contacted by USCIS by phone or in-person. USCIS reports that they also may visit the homes of those individuals who have not yet returned their invalid three-year EAD or responded to USCIS's request that they return the cards. USCIS will reportedly attempt to call the individual in advance of any home visit and USCIS employees will always show the individuals their credentials during any visits.

New resources are available at USCIS.GOV to help DACA recipients:

• A new online tool that three-year DACA recipients can use to verify whether they need to return their EAD card;

• A quick facts web page;

• A fact sheet (available in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese)

Those recipients who have not been contacted by USCIS and have received a three-year card after February 16, 2015, should use the new online tool or call the USCIS Customer Service line at 1-800-375-5283 to verify whether they are affected before returning the card.

What are the consequences of not returning card?

For those recipients who are required to and fail to return the card, USCIS will terminate DACA and all employment authorizations effective July 31, 2015. Since the consequences of not returning the card is severe, DACA recipients should note carefully if they are required to return their card and speak to an experienced immigration attorney if they have questions.

An Opportunity

Organic Growth Pavilion

Organic Growth by Izaskun Chinchilla Architects (Madrid/London)

A trip to Governors Island, a 172-acre island approximately 800 yards from the southern tip of Manhattan, is a delightful way to spend a summer afternoon. Featuring miles of bike paths, historical reenactments with a canon being fired (fun for the whole family), delicious food, cultural events, and a hammock, this summer the island is also displaying some beautiful outdoor art pieces including the Organic Growth pavilion on the Parade Ground. Taking inspiration from nature and discarded and found materials, the design utilizes broken umbrellas, old stools, and damaged bicycle wheels. The pavilion is composed of elements that can be dismantled and re-used after the summer. "Branches composed of several umbrellas and tripods, can be easily reused as sun, wind, and rain protection in outdoor spaces all around the city. Larger elements can be beautiful indoor chandeliers and can be useful for community centers or other public spaces." The piece is being shown until September 20. If you go, don't forget, the last ferry on the weekend leaves at 7pm. Don't miss it!