Vol. 71/No. 21      May 28, 2007

Attorneys for the detained workers had filed a complaint March 8 arguing that their transfer to jails in remote areas of Texas denies them access to legal counsel and the opportunity to obtain conditional release on bond.

The more than 200 workers held in Texas were among 361 arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the New Bedford plant.

They were taken the day of the raid to Fort Devens, a former army base in Ayer, Massachusetts. Under pressure from relatives and others, some 60 workers were released for "humanitarian reasons" the next day. But the majority were quickly jailed in New England or flown to other states.

In the motion to dismiss the defendants' request to transfer the case under Massachusetts jurisdiction, Judge Richard Stearns described violations of their rights. These included denying them access to legal counsel, and transferring 116 detainees to a jail in El Paso, Texas, even after a request for a temporary restraining order had been filed seeking to halt any further moves. The ICE also began deporting workers who would have been covered by such a restraining order, but who, under pressure, agreed to voluntary deportation by waiving their right to appeal.

"Assuming these allegations to be true," Stearns wrote, the workers rights were not violated because they have no constitutional right to counsel, release on bond, or that the proceedings be held in a specific venue. He went along with the government's argument that the detainees had been sent to Texas due to lack of prison space in Massachusetts.

The judge claimed that any legal appeals they might decide to pursue could be equally done from Texas, even though the workers' legal help, families, and social support network are in Massachusetts. He granted a 21-day stay of deportation in which the workers seeking to fight the order must prepare an appeal.
 
 
Related articles:
'Prosecute cops for May Day riot!'
Demand many in Los Angeles
Dallas suburb bans renting to undocumented  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home