Asa Hutchinson
Under Secretary
Border and Transportation Security
Department of Homeland Security
Re: FY 2003 and 2004 Appropriations for Legal Orientation Programs for Immigration Detainees
Dear Mr. Hutchinson:
In FYs 2002, 2003, and 2004, Congress appropriated one million dollars to fund legal orientation programs for immigration detainees. Although this money was appropriated to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and subsequently the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it was intended for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the agency with the experience and capacity required to administer legal orientation programs. Shortly after the bill with the 2002 legal orientation program appropriation was passed, [1] Senators Brownback, Hatch, Kennedy, and Leahy wrote a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft clarifying that the money appropriated for legal orientation programs should be made available to the EOIR, and that it was essential that any contracts for legal orientation programs be administered by the EOIR.[2] The INS transferred the FY 2002 appropriation to the EOIR. However, the money appropriated in FY 2003 has yet to be made available to the EOIR.
To the best of our knowledge, the DHS does not administer legal orientation programs, and understands that the EOIR is the best-suited agency to manage such programs. For this reason, INS made the FY 2002 legal orientation program appropriation available to the EOIR. Congress expressly intended the FY 2003 legal orientation program appropriation for ""non-governmental agencies to provide 'live presentations' to persons in INS detention prior to their first hearing before an immigration judge.""[3] This money should be used for no other purpose. We write to request that the FY 2003 legal orientation program appropriation be made immediately available to the EOIR, and request assurance that the FY 2004 appropriation will be made available to the EOIR in a timely manner.
Legal orientation programs include presentations conducted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to individuals detained in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The presentations provide immigration detainees with information on the removal process and the different forms of relief from removal under our nation's laws. Legal orientation programs are especially important to immigration detainees because they do not receive court appointed counsel.[4] For the past ten years, NGOs have conducted legal orientation presentations, without pay, for detained immigrants. NGOs have worked with the EOIR to implement these programs. An EOIR evaluation of legal orientation presentations found that they increase the efficiency of the court system, saving both time and money for the government.[5] They also help to protect the integrity of our justice system, by educating detainees about the law and their rights. Recognizing the importance of legal orientation programs, Congress appropriated money to ensure their continuation. Congress expressly intended the money to go to EOIR because the agency has already developed and implemented, in conjunction with NGOs, several legal orientation programs. The EOIR's expertise and knowledge in this area makes it the proper agency to administer funds for legal orientation programs. The EOIR's experience with legal orientation programs will enable it to ensure that program funding is administered efficiently and appropriately.
Funds appropriated for legal orientation programs must be used for such programs. The DHS does not operate any legal orientation programs. The EOIR has legal orientation programs in place and has the experience needed to continue administering such programs. In the face of clear Congressional mandate, it is inappropriate to withhold money from the agency it was intended for and prevents its use as designated by Congress.
We, the undersigned organizations respectfully request that the money to administer legal orientation programs for FY 2003 be made immediately available to the EOIR. We further request that the FY 2004 and subsequent legal orientation program appropriations be made available to the EOIR in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union
1333 H St., Tenth Floor, NW
Washington, DC 20005
American Muslim Voice
P. O. Box 1489
Fremont, CA 94538-9991
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
4201 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20008
Asian Law Caucus
939 Market Street, Suite 201
San Francisco, CA 94103
Asian Pacific American Legal Center
1145 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Dan Kanstroom, Director
Boston College Law School
Immigration and Asylum Program
Capitol Area Immigrants' Rights (CAIR) Coalition
Catholic Charities of Orange County
Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC)
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Golden Vision Foundation
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
Immigration and Refugee Services of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans
Immigration Equality
(formerly known as Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force)
Immigration Project
International Institute of New Jersey
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
Na Loio
Immigrant Rights and Public Interest Legal Center
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)
National Immigration Law Center
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center (PIRC)
Political Asylum Project of Austin
Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project
Boston, MA 02108
PRIME - Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees
Raksha, Inc
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN)
U.S. Program - Human Rights Watch
University of Detroit Mercy Immigration School of Law
Immigration Law Clinic
Virgil Wiebe
Director of Clinical Education & Assistant Professor of Law
University of St. Thomas School of Law
Barbara Hines
Clinical Professor
University of Texas School of Law
Washington Defender Association's Immigration Project
[1] Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations Act for FY 2002
[2] See attached letter to Attorney General Ashcroft from Senators Leahy, Kennedy, Hatch, and Brownback, dated 11/30/01.
[3] See House Conference Report 108-10, dated February 13, 2003.
[4] Moreover, our nation's complex immigration laws, a lack of access to adequate legal resources in detention, and language barriers compound immigration detainees' capacity to navigate the laws and processes that apply to their cases. Immigration detainees are often held in remote areas of the country, further reducing their ability to secure legal representation or the information they need to understand the removal process. In many cases, legal orientation programs are an immigration detainee's only source of accurate information.
[5] See EOIR, ""Evaluation of the Rights Presentation,"" available at http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/statspub/rtspresrpt.pdf.