LOS ANGELES (AP) — Immigrant advocates sued the Trump administration Tuesday for ending a free hotline that allowed detained immigrants to report concerns about custody conditions after it was featured on the show "Orange Is the New Black."
The nonprofit group Freedom for Immigrants, which has run the hotline since 2013 with a free phone line provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, sued in federal court in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit alleged that the administration yanked the hotline in August after it was featured on the Netflix show, which drew attention to the group's criticism of detention conditions for immigrants.
"They cannot shut down this hotline in retaliation for the fact they don't like what Freedom for Immigrants is saying," said Moez Kaba, a partner at Hueston Hennigan, which is representing the group. "And they can't shut down the hotline because they want to prevent Freedom for Immigrants from saying it."
Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on the lawsuit but said the hotline was removed last year from a list of pro bono legal service providers that immigrants can call for free.
At the time, the agency notified the group that it had been misusing the hotline, said Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman.
The line was not monitored or recorded so immigrants could find and speak with lawyers, but the group was using it for three-way calling to connect detainees to family, Cox said.
The agency had provided the hotline after a request from the nonprofit and a group of volunteers in Florida who had visited detained immigrants.
Immigrants in detention centers were then allowed to call for free, enabling the group — which also runs visitation programs at facilities across the country — to monitor custody conditions and help reconnect detainees with loved ones separated at the border, the lawsuit said.
It was also helpful for immigrants to remain in contact with hotline operators as the immigrants were transferred across multiple facilities, especially if they didn't have family or friends nearby, the suit said.
The hotline received between 600 and 14,500 calls per month, according to the lawsuit. It was limited to use at detention facilities in Florida in 2018 and was shut down entirely in August 2019, the group said.
Other articles from Hispanic Outlook:
Diversify Or Decline
Most people believe diversity in our society is a worthy goal. It seems a particularly sensible one for a nation established and built by individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds. But how to achieve and sustain it?...A bit of history. For centuries the privileged class took steps to ensure their success and those of their male offspring. The well-established old boy network was in many ways an efficient system that worked for those who ran it, primarily WASPS (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants). Admission to college, employment offers and promotion opportunities were heavily influenced by who you knew, who recommend you. But the well-oiled network had fatal flaws. It was insular, extremely restrictive and self-serving. It was great for those connected males, and in the past, males were the preferred gender for sure. But what about everybody else? Vast numbers of under-served ethnic, religious or national groups didn’t have a chance. The playing field was painfully uneven. The cards were stacked against hundreds of thousands of Americans if not millions be it for education or employment opportunities. Finally, in the 1960s affirmative action was…
Judging Good-Looking Employees As Bad
(AP)(THE CONVERSATION) Beautiful people tend to have a lot more luck in the work world. Research has shown people deemed attractive get paid more, receive better job evaluations and are generally more employable. It’s even been shown that good-looking CEOs bring better stock returns for their companies. In part, this may be because companies believe consumers are more likely to buy things from beautiful employees, which is perhaps why retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch have used looks as criteria in their hiring process. Abercrombie says it stopped doing that in 2015. There’s some evidence, however, that this worker “beauty premium” may be wearing off – at least when it comes to employees who interact with consumers. In television commercials, for example, retailers and other companies are increasingly using real people – with all their physical flaws – rather than photoshopped models to give their brands an “authentic” feel. Research several colleagues and I conducted recently suggests that companies may be wise to...
New Grads Reveal A Confidence Gender Gap
For perhaps the first and only time in a person’s professional life where they are competing in a somewhat level playing field is as a freshly minted college graduate. If your grades are comparable and you are competing in the same field as your fellow graduate, you should be just as confident about landing a coveted job as he or she might be. But a study of recent college graduates reveals that this is not necessarily so. You point of view, it turns out, is very much affected by what gender you are. The survey, conducted as part of the Cengage Student Opportunity Index, shows that while recent college graduates feel good about their job prospects, women are much less confident than men when it comes to salary expectations. Women are also significantly less optimistic than men about the country’s economic outlook, with a majority reporting they feel the country is on the wrong track. And these concerns are not unreasonable. The fact that we are a society that is ideologically divided over the question of equal pay for equal work and statistics that…
2 Physicians Personalize Vaccine Debate
In the year 2000, the national vaccination rate was 90% to 95%. Measles was declared officially eliminated in this country. However, since that time an anti-vaccine movement has sprung up internationally, which has lowered the percentage of children vaccinated at levels that are alarming the medical community. Earlier this year, there was a surge of measles cases in Washington State. The vaccination rate across Clark County, Wash. was 78%, but some schools in the area have had rates under 40%, according to the Clark County Public Health website. Washington State legislators introduced bills to deny parents refusing to vaccinate their children for personal and philosophical reasons. Washington was one of only 17 states that allowed for that exemption. The bills, supporters explained, was to prevent a full-blown epidemic in the Pacific Northwest. After a contentious debate and hearings, the bills were passed and signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. What follows are the views of two Physicians who have been personally touched by...
Using Crowdsourcing To Diagnose Patients
It’s no surprise that the internet has changed the practice of Medicine. TeleMedicine is now being recognized by major insurance carriers and medical facilities as a viable option for Patients. Physicians routinely consult and exchange files on line. Patients can access their medical files and history through laboratory and hospital websites. But now crowdsourcing has taken Medicine to a whole new level. A new series on Netflix explores how Physicians can harness the power of the internet to better treat their Patients and provide a window into the entire diagnosis process. The series, “Diagnosis,” explores the life-changing impact of receiving a diagnosis for individuals who’ve been searching for answers, and the healing that comes with connecting with others who can empathize with their experiences. Based on Dr. Lisa Sanders’ column in The New York Times Magazine, “Diagnosis” follows various Patients on their respective journeys toward finding a diagnosis, and potentially a cure, for their mysterious illnesses. By combining the power of…
Place your job ad in our classified page on the HO print & digital Edition
