The American Union of Civil Liberties of Puerto Rico (ACLU-PR) and various political and social organizations of the island reported that they filed a lawsuit against the administration of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, to annul
“The Constitution guarantees all persons within the borders of the United States, the rights to equal protection and due process of the law,” Michael Tan, deputy director of the Immigrant Rights Rights of ACLU said in a statement.
If the new policy promulgated by the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE, in English), continues, thousands of immigrants could be imprisoned indefinitely while their immigration cases are considered for months or even years, eliminating the ability to obtain bail.
The plaintiffs are represented by the ACLU, the ACLU in the south of California, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Rights Project (NWIRP) and the lawyers Niels Frenzen and Jean Reisz.
«The Trump administration seeks to rewrite constitutional protection, denying millions of immigrants in detention centers the ability to request bail. Through a memorandum and without justification that merits it, ”added so.
In this context, the plaintiffs seek to represent the collective of individuals subject to the ICE policy in the country, as well as those who were denied bail audiences in the Advancement Immigration Court.
For its part, Annette Martínez, executive director of the AGU of Puerto Rico, where more than 800 immigrant people have been arrested, stressed that this policy also affected immigrants on the Caribbean island. “There have already been cases of bail denial to ICE,” Martínez said.
The defenders highlighted in the document that all the persons present in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, have constitutional rights, and the due process clause applies to all, including immigrants without regularized status.
Several organizations such as Puerto Rico Social Aid, Immigration Lawyers of Puerto Rico and Bar Association and Lawyers of Puerto Rico have made available to migrants lawyers to provide help after the raids made by the ICE since Trump returned to occupy the Oval Office.
