Immigrants Released After Lengthy Illegal Detentions

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-03-31 08:33:00 UTC
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Elliot Grenade and Alexander Alli are lawful permanent residents who got into trouble with the law. While this means deportation, in rare circumstances an immigrant can successfully argue "extreme hardship" and get a visa waiver. While awaiting there chance to argue their case, the two immigrants have been detained for 2.5 and 1.5 years, respectively, without being given a bond hearing to determine whether they are eligible for release on bail.

This is the status quo for most immigrant detainees: even though they aren't being held for violent crimes or pose a risk to the community, they are frequently denied the right to post bail and be released pending a decision on their deportation -- a right we respect for people accused of real crimes. It's part of the guilty-until-proven-innocent mindset of the detention system, which has severe backlogs that can lead to the incarceration of an immigrant for two-and-half years or more.

Well, the American Civil Liberties Union has had enough, which is why they represented Grenada and Alli in order to challenge the legality of an indefinite detention without a bond hearing. When a judge ruled in their favor, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement didn't even bother with a bond hearing. Nope: they just released the two men. If it was that easy, kind of makes you wonder why they weren't given a bond hearing in the first place? Makes you wonder who profits from unjust detention on the taxpayer's dime (*cough* private detention centers).

Farrin Anello, an attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, commented that the release of Alli and Grendade "confirms that the lengthy imprisonment they suffered was entirely unnecessary in light of the facts of their individual cases. ... Many others like them continue to be deprived of their liberty for months or years in immigration detention even though no judge has ever considered whether their detention is necessary." The ACLU is appealing a ruling that they cannot bring a class action suit to challenge detention without a hearing on behalf of all the immigrants who suffer from this unjust system.

Photo credit: Ken_Mayer

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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