Detained Immigrant's Release Blocked by DHS in New Ratcheting Up of Immigration System

Liset Fernandez had been worried about her father's detention for weeks, but after an immigration judge granted him release on a $5,000 bond, she thought she had received good news. Unfortunately, when she tried to pay the bond online, she was told that her father was ineligible for release. This shocking development is a result of a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy that argues all people who enter the US illegally are ineligible for bond, regardless of their history or the risk of flight. The policy, which has been implemented nationwide, has left many immigrants like Fernandez's father trapped in detention, awaiting an appeal to the board of immigration appeals that could take months or even years to resolve.

Key Takeaways:

• The Department of Homeland Security has implemented a new policy that makes all individuals who enter the US illegally ineligible for bond, regardless of their individual circumstances.
• This policy has led to thousands of immigrants being detained, with Fernandez's father being one of them, who was previously granted release by an immigration judge.
• Federal judges across the country have ruled against DHS's new policy, citing the due process rights of detainees and the lack of compelling interest or special circumstance in applying the automatic stay.
• The automatic stay practice has been used widely, with lawyers representing DHS being instructed to appeal every decision in which someone is granted bond and immediately pause the judge's ruling while the appeal is pending.
• Immigration attorneys have raised concerns that this policy is a nationwide effort to "inflict the maximum punishment" on people who are already in the US, making the process so punitive and unbearable that they give up.
• The Department of Homeland Security claims that Fernandez had entered the country illegally and had two prior convictions for driving while intoxicated, but the charges were from 2003 and 2014.

Statistics:

• 50 percent of migrants arrested in the New York City area in 2023 had been arrested at routine check-ins at immigration offices, similar to Fernandez's situation.
• Fernandez's co-workers at the Square diner raised over $20,000 to support him and his family.
• Since Fernandez's detention, his daughter Liset has spent hours on the phone with him, taking on extra shifts at work to support her family financially and emotionally.
• The number of immigrants being detained in the US has increased under the Trump administration, with the policy of automatic stays further exacerbating the situation.

Sources:

• US District Judge Julie Rubin, ruling on a migrant's case in Maryland, citing concerns about due process rights.
• Craig Relles, an immigration attorney representing Fernandez, who has raised concerns about the policy.
• Suchita Mathur, a lawyer at the American Immigration Council, who has criticized the administration's effort to make the immigration process "punitive and unbearable".
• The Department of Homeland Security, which has implemented the new policy and issued a statement regarding Fernandez's case.
• The New York Times, which analyzed federal data on migrant arrests in the New York City area.