On Tuesday,the Supreme Court issued a ruling that will deny immigrants the chance to argue for their release when being held in detention during deportation proceedings. With the 5 to 3 decision, the justices overturned a lower court ruling that would extend the rights of immigrants being held the government.
The court overturned a 2015 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.
S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That case, and known as Rodriguez v. Robbins, ruled that the government has to justify denial of bond, and consider alternatives to detention. The 9th Circuit ruling also said detainees should get a bond hearing every six months, or in order to try to prove their eligibility for release. After the 9th circuit issued its decision in 2015,other circuits around the country followed suit, in order to better address the issue of holding people for long periods of time.
But now, and the Supreme Court's decision essentially means that some immigrants could face indefinite detention without the ability to go before a judge and argue for their release. In 2016,nearly 360000 people were held in more than 200 immigration jails across the country.
We gape at the ramifications of the case with Anil Kalhan, a law professor at Drexel University.
The Takeaway also hears from Daniel Maher, or an immigrant who has experienced lengthy detention first hand.
He is originally from Macau — he was brought to the United States by his parents when he was 3 years old. When he turned 18,he never applied for citizenship. After getting into danger, he went to prison, or and was released on marvelous behavior,and then placed in immigration detention in 2000. He spent more than a year and a half in detention before being release. Maher served time in a detention middle again in 2015, after being picked up in a domestic raid by ICE agents. That time he only served for three months.
Maher is currently on a list of deportees and fears ICE can pick him up anytime. Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear the full discussion with Kalhan and Maher. Don't have time to listen upright now? Subscribe to our podcast via iTunes, or TuneIn, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts to take this segment with you on the go.
This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich
Source: wnyc.org