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VICTORY: Grandmother in Immigration Detention Finally Receives Fair Hearing

Mass Incarceration
Mass Incarceration
Jenny Zhao,
Liman Public Interest Fellow,
勛圖眻畦 of Northern California
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March 15, 2013

This week a federal judge a bond hearing for a woman who has been detained without due process by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for nearly a year and a half. Bertha Mejia, a grandmother with deep family ties in California and with no violent criminal history, was classified by ICE as a mandatory detainee because of misdemeanor convictions for stealing groceries. That classification made her ineligible for a hearing before an immigration judge where she could present evidence that she posed no danger to the community or risk of flighteven as her immigration case dragged on for months with no end in sight.

The victory is the result of a the 勛圖眻畦 of Northern California and Ms. Mejias immigration attorney, Rosy Cho, filed in federal court in early February. The ruling recognizes that Ms. Mejia never should have been in mandatory lock-up in the first place, and should have received a prompt bond hearing to determine if she needed to be detained.

Enacted in 1996, the federal mandatory detention statute was intended to apply only to immigrants transferred directly from criminal custody to immigration custody for deportation proceedingsand not individuals living in the community, without incident, for months or years after their release.

Ms. Mejia was abruptly detained by ICE officers at her home nearly a year after a misdemeanor shoplifting offense. But as the district court held, Congress did not intend to strip immigrants of their due process rights based on old convictionsincluding for minor, nonviolent offenses like petty theft.

Because of ICEs unlawful policies, Ms. Mejia has languished in a county jail for the past year and a half. Her lengthy detention has also caused great hardship for her loved ones, especially for her 9-year-old grandson she was raising. Meanwhile, taxpayers funded Ms. Mejias unnecessary detention at the rate of $164 per day, to a total cost of nearly $90,000.

Unfortunately, Ms. Mejias case is just the tip of the iceberg. ICE routinely subjects immigrants nationwide to unlawful mandatory detention. Ms. Mejia is but another example of ICEs senseless incarceration of individuals who pose no flight risk or danger. And American taxpayers foot the bill. Effective alternatives to detentionsuch as ankle monitors, curfews, and reporting requirementsare available at a fraction of the cost of detention. As Congress holds oversight hearings on our immigration system in the upcoming weeks, it should remember cases like Ms. Mejias and take steps to curtail wasteful immigration detention.

Update: Bertha Mejias victory was covered further on .

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