Immigrants’ Rights Groups Announce Plans to Provide Pro Bono Legal Services to Children and Their Mothers Detained in Texas

"Immigrants’ rights and immigrant legal services groups are announcing the establishment of a family detention project to provide legal services to children and their mothers detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas, and to advocate for the end of family detention.  The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, collectively known as CARA, have joined forces in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) significant expansion of its family detention capacity.  The opening of the “South Texas Family Residential Center” in Dilley, Texas — with an initial capacity of 480 beds and the potential to hold 2,400 individuals — and the detention of families at the “Karnes Residential Center” in Karnes City — with a current capacity of 532 beds and plans to double the number — reflect the Obama Administration’s continuing commitment to the flawed deterrence policy it began in June 2014 with the opening of a temporary family detention center in Artesia, New Mexico.  The detention of children and their mothers is not only inhumane, but also incompatible with a fair legal process.  The project will build on CARA’s collective experiences providing legal services, running a pro bono project for families detained in Artesia and Karnes, training lawyers and BIA accredited representatives, and leading advocacy and litigation efforts to challenge unlawful asylum, detention, and deportation policies.  CARA is committed to ensuring that detained children and their mothers receive competent, pro bono representation, and developing aggressive, effective advocacy and litigation strategies to end the practice of family detention.

For more information, contact:
Belle Woods, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), bwoods@aila.org or 202-507-7675
Wendy Feliz, American Immigration Council, wfeliz@immcouncil.org or 202-507-7524
Maura Moser, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), mmoser@cliniclegal.org or 301-565-4830
Mohammad Abdollahi, RAICES, mo@raicestexas.org or 210-544-7811 " - CLINIC, Mar. 31, 2015.