The United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit heard arguments in Cincinnati Wednesday to decide whether some immigrants in detention who say they’re being illegally detained can be released on bond while awaiting a court hearing.
WVXU previously reported on the rise of these habeas corpus cases, which local immigration lawyers have submitted at an unprecedented rate to try to get immigrants in indefinite detention temporarily released on bond. Right now, federal judges disagree on whether they’re even allowed to grant bond to these detainees. While judges will still be able to decide whether to consider bond on an individual basis, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals will determine whether they can even consider this option. The decision will impact immigrants from the four states the court serves, including Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan.
As of February, there were about 3,801 immigrants in detention in these four states, a number that includes people accused of crimes that don’t have anything to do with their immigration status.
Federal attorneys and lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union representing immigrants presented oral arguments to a three-judge panel Wednesday morning.
My Khanh Ngo, senior staff attorney under the ACLU’s Immigrant’s Rights Project, said the hearing went as expected, though Judge Eric Murphy did bring up an argument she had not heard in previous Circuit Court of Appeals hearings across the country.
“Do you think that parole can be granted to aliens — to immigrants that are unlawfully present in the country?” Murphy asked Ngo while she presented her argument.
Under current parole law, the Department of Homeland Security can grant parole to any person applying for admission. Murphy said based on the arguments Ngo presented, a judge can’t grant parole to individuals who are present inside the country unlawfully, a point he admitted helped the federal government’s argument.
Some of the arguments focused on the government’s recent decision to classify all undocumented immigrants as immigrants seeking admission, regardless of how long they have been living inside the U.S. This, worried Senior Judge R. Guy Cole, Jr., could put millions in detention.
“I mean, you're looking at, it sounds like, rounding up millions and millions of people who've been here for maybe 20, 25 years, arguably not seeking admission, like [the government] arguably [is] per statute,” Cole said. “But it just seems like that's gonna be a massive undertaking.”
Murphy pointed out this could be a practical concern: he said there is no bed space for this amount of people.
Benjamin Hayes, senior counsel with the Department of Justice, said Congress does need to provide the resources needed for mass incarceration. But he said the lack of beds doesn’t take away from the government’s argument that they should be able to reclassify all undocumented immigrants.
Judge Eric Clay also pointed out that this places immigrants subject to indefinite detention. The detention would end when they’re deported, but there is no requirement for when those hearings would happen.
Hayes said that is a due process issue, which is not the argument the ACLU is making.
“But the natural implication is that they're not having access to a hearing subsequently, or at any time, is the natural consequence of the argument, even if you don't characterize it that way,” Clay said in response.
Other appeals courts across the country are considering similar arguments. Next week, the 11th Circuit, which includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia, will hear arguments.
A decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals is pending.
Read More
