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Right to Get Help

A detained immigrant has the right to be treated with dignity and respect by immigration agents.  S/he also has the right to call a relative or a lawyer.  The person must make sure to never sign any document that waives her/his rights, because s/he may be deported before s/he can even talk to a lawyer or see a judge.  The immigration service is required to provide the person with a list of local organizations that offer low-cost or free legal services for immigrants. 

However, in immigration proceedings, the government is not required to provide the immigrant with a lawyer at its own expense - s/he must find one on her/his own.  The person also has a right to call her/his nation's consulate in the U.S.   

Right to Speedy Charge

Once arrested by the immigration service, the government generally has 48 hours to decide whether to put the individual in deportation proceedings and whether to keep the person detained or release her/him. 

• The government can keep you for an additional reasonable period of time beyond 48 hours if there are emergency or extraordinary circumstances.  
• Immigrants who are certified as possibly being a terrorist or a threat to national security may be detained for 7 days before any charges are brought (they may challenge the detention in federal court).

Right to See an Immigration Judge

Generally, an individual in immigration custody has the right to see an immigration judge.  In most cases, only an immigration judge can order the person's deportation.  But if s/he waives her/his right to a hearing, or if s/he accepts voluntary departure, s/he can be deported without a court hearing.  Unless the person is seeking asylum, people with certain aggravated crimes, those arrested at the border, and those previously ordered deported do not have a right to see an immigration judge. 

Right to a Bond Hearing

In most cases, a person detained by the immigration service has the right to ask for her/his release from detention.  When the person is taken into custody, the immigration service will usually give her/him a document stating whether s/he can be released, and if so, whether s/he is required to pay a bond for her/his release.  If they say the person cannot be released, s/he has the right to ask for a bond hearing before an immigration judge.  If a bond amount is required, s/he has the right to ask an immigration judge to lower it.  The immigrant can assert these rights even if the immigration service has not yet charged her/him with any immigration violations. 

Unfortunately, the law does not say when an immigration judge must hear the person's immigration case.  Detained immigrants can wait in detention for up to two months before they see an immigration judge about their case.  That is why it is important to assert one's right to a bond hearing as soon as the person is in detention.  A bond hearing will be set within 2-3 days after the detainee asks for it.  S/he can ask for it by filling out and giving to the immigration court a bond application, which is provided by the court and may be provided by a local non-profit organization upon request. 

At the bond hearing, even if the person is eligible for a bond, the immigration judge may order the person to stay in detention because s/he has found that the person is a danger to society and/or will not show up for future court dates.  Terrorists, those with certain criminal convictions, and those with a prior deportation are not eligible for a bond.

Right to Be Free from Indefinite Detention

In many cases, immigrants who are ordered deported cannot be deported because their country will not take them back.  Certain immigrants in this situation have the right to be released after 6 months.  If the government cannot show that the person will be deported in the reasonably foreseeable future, the person must be released.  The person can apply for release with the immigration service.  If the person continues to remain in detention, s/he can apply for her/his release with a federal district court. 

An immigrant indefinitely detained can also apply for her/his release by showing that s/he is not a danger to the community and will not fail to show up to appointments with the immigration service.  The person can apply with the local immigration office 90 days after s/he is ordered deported.  After 6 months, s/he can apply with the national office in Washington, D.C. to the following address:

HQPDU
801 I St., NW, Room 800
Washington DC 20536

Supporting documents should include:

• Letters of housing,
• Letters from family in the U.S.,
• Letters of employment, letters of support,
• Proof that the person cannot be deported in the near future,
• And proof of rehabilitation from any crimes, if applicable.