A class-action lawsuit led by the ACLU of Virginia will require ICE to release immigrants in its custody who have won their immigration cases, absent a finding by the agency that there are exceptional circumstances warranting their continued detention.
“If you win your immigration case in Virginia, ICE is supposed to let you go – but instead, it’s been unlawfully detaining dozens of people for months in violation of its own policies,” ACLU of Virginia Attorney Sophia Gregg said.
The suit, brought by the ACLU of Virginia, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and the National Immigration Project, will require ICE to release multiple immigrants who had been detained arbitrarily.
The policy in place dating back to 2004 has been to require the release of people in immigration custody to whom judges have granted asylum, withholding of removal, or relief under the U.N. Convention Against Torture after deeming them likely to face severe persecution, torture, or death in their countries of origin.
ICE’s Washington Field Office has made it a practice to continue to detain people for months after they had already won their immigration cases, the suit, styled Rodriguez Guerra v. Perry, alleged.
After judges ruled people could not be returned to their countries of origin, ICE kept them detained while the agency appealed the decision or spent months fruitlessly searching for alternative countries to which it could deport them – ignoring the government’s own data that less than 3 percent of people granted withholding of removal or CAT relief are ever removed to an alternative country.
Immigration
- Republican-led legislation approved by U.S. House to prohibit immigrant voting
- Biden issues executive order on border security, as Republicans continue to dither
- Senate Republicans block border-security bill, preserving immigration as issue for Trump
“ICE’S practice of detaining non-citizens even after they already won their immigration case is in clear violation of its own policies,” National Immigration Project Attorney Amber Qureshi said. “After vigorously fighting against our clients in this case, ICE finally agreed to end its unlawful practice and honor its own decades-long policy by considering the release of people who’ve already won their immigration cases.”
The Rodriguez Guerra v. Perry settlement requires ICE‘s Washington Field Office to provide custody reviews for all individuals in Virginia who have been granted asylum, withholding or CAT relief.
“Today’s settlement means ICE will think twice about violating its own policies. The lawsuit has not only resulted in the release of many of our clients, but it will also facilitate the release of people stuck in ICE custody in the future even after winning their cases,” Amica Center’s Immigration Impact Lab Senior Attorney Austin Rose said. “Garland v. Aleman Gonzalez may have given ICE a false sense of impunity, but today’s settlement puts the agency on notice that it’s still bound by the law.”