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California Authorities Must Inform Migrants of Consequences of “Voluntary Return”
The American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday an accord with the federal government requiring immigration authorities in California to fully inform undocumented migrants of the consequences of agreeing to “voluntary return.”
The pact settles a lawsuit filed in June 2013 by the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and law firm Cooley LLP.
The suit accused the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement of pressuring migrants to sign away their rights to a court hearing and of systematically misleading them about the consequences of “voluntary return.”
“There is still a lot of work to do to ensure that this accord is being implemented,” Mitra Ebadolahi, Border Litigation staff attorney with the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, told Efe.
For now, the agreement applies only to migrants detained in California, but Ebadolahi said the ACLU plans to push for the policy to be extended to other border states.
The settlement requires Border Patrol and ICE agents to make it clear to migrants that accepting voluntary return means they cannot re-enter the United States for 10 years.
“They don’t tell people that and sometimes they make them believe they can regularize their documents in Mexico, when that’s not how it is,” the ACLU attorney said.
Under the accord, detained migrants must also have access to a working telephone, be supplied with a list of legal service providers and be given two hours to reach someone before they decide whether to accept “voluntary return.”
The settlement, which is subject to court approval, also opens the door to the possibility that some of the many Mexicans who have been deported under “voluntary return” will have an opportunity to rejoin their families in the United States.
Published in Latino Daily News
Source: http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/california-authorities-must-inform-migrants-of-consequences-of-voluntary-re/30968#When:17:07:58Z
