Resources Aim to Preserve Fairness and Due Process
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
NASHVILLE – In response to the recent passage of reactionary, anti-immigrant laws in Tennessee, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) today launched an online Immigrant Resource Center to help ensure the preservation of fairness and due process for the state's immigrants. The Immigrant Resource Center provides information to help people better understand the justice system and the safeguards it offers to ensure fair treatment.
"The constitutional guarantee of fairness in the justice system applies to all people in this country, not just to U.S. citizens," said Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director of the ACLU of Tennessee. "The resources at our website explain the fundamental protections that we value so much as Americans and how they relate to real life situations for Tennessee's newest residents."
The Constitutional guarantee of due process ensures that people are treated fairly within the justice system. The U.S. is not supposed to be a country that detains people, sometimes for years, without access to lawyers or family. Unfortunately, this is what is happening to thousands of immigrants caught up in raids, transferred into detention centers, and pressured into signing removal orders without being able to consult with counsel or family.
Documents at the Resource Center attempt to provide people with an understanding of how the justice system works, as well as an understanding of constitutional protections. They include information on obtaining visas in cases of domestic and workplace abuse or human trafficking, encounters with law enforcement, the detention system, safety planning and raids. CD copies of the Resource Center are also being distributed to organizations serving immigrants statewide.
"The Constitution was designed to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. Immigrants are by definition in that category," said Lindsay Kee, ACLU-TN Communications Manager. "ACLU-TN's online Immigrant Resource Center is designed to provide some traction against government practices that take away due process and equal protection from this vulnerable group, to help preserve the Constitution and its fundamental guarantee of fairness."
ACLU-TN's Online Resource Center can be found at: www.aclu-tn.org/immigrantresourcecenter.htm
A CD copy of the Resource Center can be ordered by calling (615) 320-7142.