Human rights program signs amicus brief in immigration detention case

The Brandeis Human Rights Advocacy Program (HRAP) has signed on to an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of Jennings v. Rodriguez along with dozens of community groups whose constituents face severe consequences from prolonged immigration detentions without bond hearings.

This is the second such brief that the HRAP has signed on to in this case after the Supreme Court requested additional briefing.

The brief argues that prolonged detentions without bond hearings gravely burden the immigrants who pose no flight risk or danger with the harms of bodily restraint, family separation and the physical and mental hardships of punitive detentions. It argues that prolonged mandatory detentions are materially indistinguishable from punitive incarcerations and therefore deserve due process protections. The brief chronicles individual accounts of the use of solitary confinement, medical neglect, physical/sexual/and emotional abuse and forced labor in immigration detention facilities. 

Being a signatory to this brief aligns with the work that Professor Enid Trucios-Haynes, co-director of HRAP, has led for five years conducting Know Your Rights Trainings at the Boone County (Kentucky) Jail's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center.

She leads teams of local lawyers and Brandeis Law students monthly who conduct individualized interviews with detainees on behalf of the National Immigrant Justice Center.