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MIAMI MMIGRATION: Detentions at immigration court in downtown Miami lead some immigrants to fear day in court

Some attorneys say detentions at immigration court in downtown Miami are causing panic in the immigrant community.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY

achardy@MiamiHerald.com

When Miami attorney Neil D. Kolner showed up at an immigration court hearing last month, his client -- a Venezuelan asylum-seeker -- was detained before a judge even ruled on the case.

Shannon LaGuerre, an attorney at the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said one of her clients -- a Haitian applying for a green card -- was detained after her initial hearing on Sept. 13 even though the judge had yet to rule on her case.

Wilfredo Allen, another Miami immigration attorney, said as many as a dozen of his clients have been detained at the start of court proceedings.

Those experiences in Miami's immigration court were not random, but in fact part of a controversial program the federal government put into force nationwide to crack down on foreign nationals who skip immigration court orders and flee.

However, advocates complain that immigrants seeking their day in court are being routinely detained, then monitored with an ankle bracelet -- only encouraging them all the more so to skip court and go into hiding.

Under the program, which began late last year, federal immigration agents initially were only detaining those immigrants who were ordered deported at their last court appearance, had a criminal record, were fugitives or turned up on a watch list.

But now many immigrants with or without criminal records are being detained at the beginning of proceedings -- even before a removal order is issued by an immigration judge.

Cheryl Little, executive director of Miami-based Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said these detentions are occurring at first appearance hearings when a foreign national is advised of immigration agency allegations.

Detentions usually occur in the hallways once the person leaves the courtroom, lawyers said. Immigration officers wait outside the courtroom for the foreign nationals to finish their hearings and then approach them in the hallways, attorneys said.

Those detained at the Miami court are not held for long -- unless they have a criminal record or have been ordered deported. Those with criminal records or ordered deported are taken to detention centers like Krome in West Miami-Dade County.

The others are transported to another facility on Biscayne Boulevard where they are put under supervised release -- usually wearing an ankle bracelet or ordered to report periodically to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sometimes as much as three days a week, some attorneys said. It usually takes several hours, but then the immigrant can go home.

Agents sometimes later show up unannounced at people's homes to check on compliance, attorneys said.

The new tactic marks yet another toughening of immigration enforcement for immigrants facing proceedings.

THE STRATEGY

Immigration officials draw a distinction between brief detentions to put foreign nationals in supervised release and actual arrests in which the person is confined until deported. The people detained in court and then released under supervision are freed from bracelets and all reporting requirements if they win their case in immigration court -- receiving asylum or residence. If they lose, they may be confined in a detention facility and then deported once the removal order becomes final.

The strategy is to prevent immigrants in court proceedings from fleeing to avoid deportation.

''Arrests at immigration courts have been augmented in an effort to prevent the further growth in the alien absconder population,'' said Barbara Gonzalez, a Miami spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ``Reducing our nation's absconder rate is among one of ICE's highest priorities.''

In recent years, immigration officials have said that about 85 percent of foreign nationals ordered deported in immigration court proceedings don't show up with their bags packed to be expelled when the time comes to comply with deportation notices. ''Historically,'' Gonzalez said, ``many individuals ordered removed failed to comply with their orders and instead opted to go into hiding.''

The program may be having the opposite effect.

Candace Jean, a Miami immigration attorney, said at least three of her clients recently went into hiding rather than risk detention at court.

''The program is actually counterproductive because people become afraid of going to their hearings,'' said Jean.

''The program, in theory, is better than indefinite detention, but there appear to be problems in implementation,'' said Steven Forester, senior policy advocate at Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami/Haitian Women of Miami Inc.

An immigration judge said the number of no-shows in court increase when talk spreads through the community about court detentions.

''What happens is that when the community hears that's going on, they don't come into the hearings, which is the worst possible thing to do,'' said Denise Slavin, an immigration judge at Krome who is also president of the National Association of Immigration Judges.

NO-SHOW PENALTIES

Not showing up in court generally results in a deportation order ''in absentia'' and a 10-year prohibition on the immigrant's qualification to apply for any immigration benefit. The immigrant is then deemed a fugitive and his or her name eventually is added to a federal criminal database.

Detentions at immigration court began in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as the immigration agency's functions were folded into the Department of Homeland Security. A court detention pilot project was launched in Hartford, Conn., three years ago and later implemented in large U.S. cities.

Clarel Cyriaque, a Miami immigration attorney, said between 300 and 500 immigrants may have been detained in court since the program began -- including three of his clients.

Gonzalez said that since February, ``approximately 52 individuals have been arrested upon the completion of their proceedings in Miami courtrooms.''

She said that at least 90 percent were ``criminal aliens who had been ordered removed by an immigration judge and/or were subject to mandatory detention.''

Dozens of other foreign nationals in immigration court proceedings also have been detained and then released under conditions of supervision, including ankle bracelets.

Gonzalez did not have an overall figure for the brief detentions, but said they varied from week to week -- ranging from 20 to 25 one week to 10 to 15 the next.