Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“USICE”) announced the launch of the Online Detainee Locator System (“ODLS”).  ODLS provides users with information on the location of the detention facility where a particular individual is being held, a phone number to the facility and contact information for the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office in the region where the facility is located.

A brochure explaining how to use the ODLS is also available on the website in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Somali.

ODLS users will be able to locate detained aliens by two different search methods. First, users can search by entering an individual’s alien registration number, also known as their “A” number, and their country of birth. Users can also search by entering an individual’s first name, last name, country of birth and date of birth.

Click here to access the ODLS.

© 2010, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

Are detainers only placed on unauthorized immigrants?

What happens after an immigration detainer has expired?

What are the consequences of immigration detainers?

In order to better understand immigration detainers’ function and impact, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) provides the following Fact Check to shed much needed light on this often misunderstood immigration enforcement tool.

© 2010, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

On February 1, 2010, several community groups, legal service providers and advocacy organizations issued a written statement to the DHS expressing their support for timely release of detainees at the Varick Street Detention Center.

We will continue to follow this story and provide any additional updates or information as it becomes available.

© 2010, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

Detainees from the Varick Street detention center will be transferred to facilities in New Jersey.

According to USICE officials, it is too expensive to keep detained aliens in New York City.  They can be detained at half the cost in New Jersey.

Varick Street detention center was a fully functioning detention center prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.  After the 9/11 attacks, the detention center was closed down.  In February 2008, it was renovated and reopened to accommodate the processing of new detainees.

© 2010, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

The revised guidelines, effective Jan. 4, 2010, will permit parole from detention–which temporarily authorizes aliens to enter the United States without being formally admitted or granted immigration status–of aliens arriving at U.S. ports of entry who establish their identities, pose neither a flight risk nor a danger to the community, have a credible fear of persecution or torture, and have no additional factors that weigh against their release.

The new guidelines also mandate that all such arriving aliens should automatically be considered for parole–a significant change from prior guidance that required aliens to request parole in writing.

U.S. immigration laws generally require aliens who arrive in the United States without valid entry documents to be immediately removed without further hearing; however, arriving aliens can pursue protection in the United States if they are first found by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) asylum officer or an immigration judge to have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home country.

© 2009, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

We came across this wonderful (and informative) article by Beth Werlin on the Immigration Impact website.  The article informs the readers about the problems encountered by detained foreign nationals and the lawyers who represent them.

© 2009, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.

Adding to the problem of detention is the fact that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“USICE”), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) that is charged with enforcing the immigration laws in the United States, has increased the activity of transferring detainees from one facility to another, often in remote locations throughout the United States.  This not only separates the detainees from his family, but makes it very difficult for the family members to travel long distances to visit the detainee.  This is both emotionally and financially burdensome.

And of course, there is the legal aspect of the transfer.  A relevant and important consequence of transferring detainees is the fact that the DHS has the sole discretion as to where it will commence removal proceedings against a foreign national.  For example, if a foreign national lived in New York before his or her detention, or if he or she committed a crime in New York (thereby violating the New York Penal Code) and served a sentence in New York before being paroled into DHS custody, there is no guarantee that the DHS will begin the removal proceedings in the New York Immigration Court for a foreign national who is detained in DHS custody.  The DHS can transfer the detainee to any detention facility in the United States and then start the removal proceedings with the Immigration Court having jurisdiction over the detention facility.

From a lawyer’s perspective, the location of the detention is a critical factor in the removal proceedings.  This is because the laws of the jurisdiction where the removal proceedings begin apply in any given case.  So if a person committed a crime in New York and would otherwise be subject to the laws of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (which has jurisdiction over New York) that may  be favorable, if the DHS transfers the detainee to Louisiana (which is within the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals), and then begins the removal case there, laws of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals would apply, and those laws may not be favorable to the detained person’s situation.  Thus, while the detainee may have won his or her case in one jurisdiction, a transfer to another jurisdiction can have the opposite effect.

For years now, we have been litigating and challenging the DHS’ decision to transfer a detainee from one location to another and then to commence removal proceedings, almost always to the detriment of the foreign national’s ability to demonstrate eligibility for relief from removal in the jurisdiction where the proceedings are commenced.  There are countless stories of family separations and frustration over the process.  It is understandably difficult to understand why someone has to be transferred so far away from their home and family.

The fact that detainee transfers is on the rise is yet another reason for foreign nationals and their families to make sure that the foreign national has competent legal representation if necessary, because unfortunately, not all laws are created equal.

© 2009, Thaker Berowitz LLP. All rights reserved.