August 22, 2006 Liaison Meeting Minutes

Transcription

1 August 22, 2006 Liaison Meeting Minutes The meeting was held at the El Paso SPC in the Deportation Conference Room. Those present and representing the Immigration & Customs Enforcement were OIC, Al Campos; AOIC, Adrian Ramirez; OCC, Steve Ruhle; DOS, Miguel Vasquez; SDDO, Roy Hernandez; and Acting SDDO, Joe Hermosillo. Others in attendance: Iliana Holguin Edgard Maldonado Jessica N. Chavira Rebecca Robledo Alma Ramírez Rodrigo Barraza Kathleen Walker Albert Armendariz Ray Gutiérrez Kevin Mc Cary Micaela Guthrie Question #1 When the detainees call to speak to the attorneys a message is announced on the phone that the call may be monitored. Are the conversations being recorded? Some of the detainees don t feel comfortable giving up to much information for that same reason. How can we be sure that the calls are not being recorded/monitored? Answer #1 Al Campos-This is a Federal Correctional Facility, run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so all calls are subject to being monitored. We may or may not have the capabilities to monitor all calls. Adrian Ramirez-A lot of the detainees come from county and state jails, so just because they are being held for immigration purposes does not change their criminal background. Question #2 When the legal service providers go and have individual consultations with the detainees sometimes the contact rooms need to be used. The contact rooms have not been working for about a month, when will they be fixed? Answer #2 Adrian Ramirez-Soon; A generator that was being tested fried the panels and affected the whole facility. The repair parts are on a rush order and hopefully will be here soon. 1

2 Question #3 How long does an accredited rep/paralegal stay on the list to enter the detention facility? Do the names get automatically erased after a certain period of time, or do their names get removed from the list when they don t visit the facility anymore? If they are removed from the list, do they have to go through the whole process of obtaining new police letters and submitting new request to OIC for accredited reps/paralegals that have previously been allowed into the detention center? Answer #3 Al Campos-The names do not get erased. Employees and accredited reps stay on the list. The list is revised almost weekly. Steve Ruhle-It is the attorneys/agency responsibility to write a letter to the SPC notifying them that a certain employee no longer works there. Kathleen Walker asked-when a letter gets turned in to the SPC to allow an employee to enter the facility, how can you make sure that the attorneys signature is authentic? Al Campos answered that they can t be sure unless they call, and right now they are not calling to verify that information. Question #4 We have noticed that there have been changes in personnel in deportations. How can we be given notices of the changes and can we get an updated list of the deportation officers, their numbers and their duties? Answer #4 Joe Hermosillo-There is a list posted outside of the EOIR building with all DPOs and their duties. This list does not contain phone numbers, there is a general number to call (915) , and they will transfer you to the appropriate DPO according to the detainees last name. Lately there have been a lot of changes in deportation personnel. Question #5 There have been instances when a legal rep. will ask for a detainee at interviews, when the detainee shows up and is missing the documents that the legal rep. needs, the detainees are not allowed to return to pick up the documents. Is there an alternative mechanism that will allow the detainees to return with their documents without the legal rep. having to make a second trip? 2

3 Answer #5 Adrian Ramirez-There is no reason for the detainee not to be able to go back and get their documents. If the detainees documents are stored in their personal belongings, this could take a while to retrieve. Question #6 There have been some complaints as far as the DPOs not returning calls to legal service providers. Also, many complaints by the detainees that they have written several letters to the DPOs and have never received a reply. What other person can be contacted when the DPOs are not responding? One of the attorneys would like to acknowledge Ms. Vasquez for a job well done. Answer #6 Roy Hernandez-If any one has any problems with the DPOs not returning calls feel free to call either Roy or Joe When calling to complain try to call as soon as the incident occurs and be very specific. The detainees/staff communications are very important. The attorney who wanted to recognize Ms. Vasquez for a job well done, should write a letter to her supervisor so that she can get formally recognized. Micaela Guthrie commented-when a DPO is on vacation or out of the office no notification is given, either by main switchboard or the greeting on the DPOs voic . Al Campos/Adrian Ramirez-The armed post is notified on who is not in the office and who is covering for that person. You can also call the DPOs supervisor to get that information. Question #7 What is done when a detainee makes an outcry of sexual abuse or domestic violence? Are they given medical treatment and/or are the local authorities called to make a report for a possible investigation? Answer #7 Al Campos-This goes on a case by case basis. It depends on what happened, where it happened and when it happened. He gave an example of females arriving three months pregnant to the detention facility when in fact they got pregnant on their way to the U.S. This case would be handled differently than a domestic violence case occurring in the U.S. There is a victims/witness coordinator on the premises. Also, there is a continuous training with STARS (Sexual Trauma & Assault Response Services). If an incident occurs at the SPC then they would call the Human Civil Rights Commission. 3

4 Question #8 There have been cases where some legal reps. have had clients that were transferred to a facility in a different city, and were not notified. When the legal rep. goes back to the SPC sometimes they have trouble finding out where the detainee has been sent. If there is a detainee that is getting legal help, and this detainee is getting transferred, can the legal service providers be notified before the move is made? If not, then how can the legal service provider get in contact with their client? Answer #8 Al Campos-There is a lot of movement going on right now. Random cases, detainees that have final orders or are awaiting travel arrangements are moved to the Otero County Facility. The U.S. Marshals occupies about 2/5 and ICE occupies about 3/5 of the approximate 425 bed facility. There should be at least a twelve hour notification to the attorney regarding their clients transfer. I will check to see if there is a policy on notifying attorneys. At the moment we are not looking into the A file from the OCC to see who the attorney is. If your client was moved, let me know so that we can try to bring them back if something was left pending. Question #9 What other detention facilities are being used to house the detainees? Do the detainees have access to legal services providers at the other facilities? Answer #9 Al Campos-There are sixty jails that are approved for overnight use, but only a few are being utilized; The Albuquerque Detention Facility, Otero County Detention Facility, West Texas County Detention Facility in Sierra Blanca, Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico and the Midland/Odessa Facility. Adrian Ramirez-Providers can visit these facilities. Unfortunately the detainees in Albuquerque and Otero are not able to call any non profits. On the other hand, in the Otero Facility an attorney can call and schedule a telephonic conference with the detainee. Alma Ramirez also mentioned that you can schedule a telephonic conference with the Albuquerque Facility. The SPC is testing calls from the different detention facilities to see why the phone system will not allow the detainees to call into the El Paso area. Question #10 What exactly is Operation Lightning Strike and what is its purpose? 4

5 Answer #10 Steve Ruhle-This is a Customs and Border Protection Operation. Since it s an ongoing operation few details can be given. The SPC does not house any pending 1325 cases. If a detainee in a pending 1325 case posts bond, DHS has the authority to keep them in detention. ICE can not remove any one from the country with a pending 1325 case. REMINDER TO ALL-Our next liaison meeting is set for DECEMBER 14, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. at the El Paso Service Processing Center. 5