August 11, 2009
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a class action lawsuit on May 27, 2009, charging that the government is violating the law by incarcerating people for prolonged periods of time, sometimes for years, while they fight their immigration cases, without providing them with the most basic element of due process — a custody hearing to determine if their prolonged detention is justified. The lawsuit is filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on behalf of two immigrants, both longtime lawful permanent residents of the United States, who have been imprisoned for prolonged periods of time in Pennsylvania prisons while they pursue legitimate legal challenges to pending removal proceedings Although one has been detained for nine months and the other for more than a year and a half, neither has received any custody hearing to determine if their prolonged detention is warranted. They seek to represent a class of other similarly detained immigrants in Pennsylvania, who are being detained without the kind of custody hearing they are entitled to under both the immigration statute and the constitution.
