ICE trolls courthouses looking for immigrants to grab
Rhode Island Deportation Defense Coalition
These organizations and individuals have added their support
to the nearly 2,200 individuals who signed the petition for virtual courts since it was launched in
July.
The full text of the letter and list of signatories is
printed below:
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ICE is a pandemic: We demand virtual court hearings now!
To Governor McKee, Chief Justice Suttell, and the Rhode
Island Judiciary,
Every week, ICE vehicles wait outside of RI courthouses to
abduct our immigrant community members. Since the end of July, we have
witnessed over 20 abductions outside the courts, and those are only the ones we
have seen. These community members are trying to navigate a system that fails
them — like the well-documented case of a woman who was a victim of domestic
violence, was never charged with anything, but was still kidnapped while
leaving court.
We have had enough. With ICE agents acting as though they are above the law, obstructing people's access to their legal proceedings, how are Rhode Island immigrants expected to pay their parking tickets, sue when their civil rights are violated, or appear for their court appearances? We are calling on Gov. McKee, Chief Justice Sutell, and the Rhode Island Judiciary to expand access to virtual court dates for all court dates for all people - to protect Rhode Island residents from ICE.
Providence and Rhode Island already have legal measures in
place to protect our immigrant neighbors from kidnappings. These measures make
police and court collaboration with ICE illegal, but they have done little to
inhibit ICE’s activities. So far, at least 350 people have been detained by ICE
in Rhode Island since Trump took office, including many of them as a result of
simply attending a court date.
Courthouses are high-traffic sites for ICE kidnappings, both
in RI and across the country. Defense Line volunteers have watched over and
over again as people leave their court appointment, only to be kidnapped 30
seconds later. Before they even arrive in their cars, ICE vehicles swarm out of
nowhere and violently grab them. ICE has even pulled over rideshare cars to
seize our community members already on their way home.
This leads us to ask: How can ICE keep kidnapping people in
this way without knowing exactly when they are leaving the building? Our
courthouses are not doing enough to stop the informants or plainclothes agents
that stalk immigrants inside the courthouses to make these tactics
possible.
Virtual court processes are an immediate step the state
could take to prevent kidnappings. During the COVID-19 pandemic, court hearings
and procedures were offered online to all Rhode Islanders. The infrastructure
to provide virtual hearings is already in place. Furthermore, Family Court
frequently holds online hearings, and many lawyers have successfully requested
virtual options for their clients in other courts. These measures must be made
widely accessible to prevent the abductions that are continuing on a weekly
basis.
Other courts across the country are already standing up to
ICE. In Chicago, Cook County’s top judge declared that ICE detaining anyone
near a courthouse is obstruction of justice. Under this order, ICE agents
attempting to detain people at the courthouse could be arrested for contempt of
court. In comparison, offering virtual court hearings is a bare minimum
measure. After broad community organizing, Providence city council worked with
the city courts to make virtual hearings universally available at the municipal
and probate courts. The rest of Rhode Island must follow suit.
We demand virtual court hearings now! Every Rhode Islander
must be able to access legal proceedings without going in person to a
courthouse, without worrying about being able to go to work or school the next
day. This is an issue of safe access to our legal system. If our elected
officials and justices care about our immigrant communities, they must take
decisive action.
We are not satisfied with empty promises; with every day
that passes, more immigrant members of our community are being kidnapped at
court. These are our fathers, mothers, classmates, neighbors, essential
workers, taxpayers, and friends. Already nearly 2,000 people have signed a
petition for virtual court hearings. We call on the Governor, Chief Justice
Sutell, and the RI Courts: protect our communities now by instating virtual
hearings immediately!
Signed,
- Alliance to Mobilize Our Resistance (AMOR)
- Olneyville Neighborhood Association
- Party for Socialism and Liberation
- Deportation Defense Network of Rhode Island
- Providence City Council
- David Morales, RI State Representative
- Lawyers' Committee for Rhode Island
- Rhode Island State Council of Churches
- National Lawyers Guild, RI Chapter
- The Pro Bono Collaborative at Roger Williams University
- RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Fuerza Laboral
- Black Lives Matter RI
- SISTA Fire
- Refugee Dream Center
- Providence Youth Student Movement
- Reclaim RI
- Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice
- Brown University Alianza Pre-law organization
- Brown University Dream Team
- Providence Teachers Union, Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (PVD CORE)
- Conexión Latina
- Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
- Carla Avelado, Attorney
- Crystal Abreu, Attorney
- Dena Paolino, Attorney
- Gloria Peters, Community Integration Specialist working at Garrahy and Licht Courts
- Grace Voll, Press Secretary for the RI Treasury
- Jess Crane, Attorney with the Rhode Island Public Defender
- Nasama Winters, Legal Intake Secretary
- Sarnya KP, Social Worker
