Haynes and Boone, LLP Counsel Luis Campos talked with Law360 about how immigrants in prolonged detention at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities in Texas are pursuing access to attorneys and improved living conditions during their confinement.
Here are excerpts:
The immigrants accused CBP on Monday in Texas federal court of holding them well beyond the 72-hour limit imposed by the agency's own guidelines and child detention standards. Due to overcrowding in facilities that are not designed for long-term detention, they claim they have not been able to access proper nutrition, water, medical services, fresh air and basic sanitation.
"When the state detains a person, 'the Constitution imposes upon it a corresponding duty to assume some responsibility for his safety and general well-being,'" the motion states, citing U.S. Supreme Court precedent. "United States Customs and Border Protection is abjectly failing to meet this responsibility in the context of people detained at CBP holding facilities."
Luis Campos, counsel for the migrants, said Wednesday that the fact that attorneys and advocates cannot access CBP detention facilities means that CBP has been able to go unchecked in keeping immigrants in deplorable conditions.
"I don't expect the government to self-correct," he said. "So, we have to sue. We're only asking the government to follow its own guidelines."
The migrants are represented by Elisabeth Brodyaga of Refugio Del Rio Grande, Luis Campos, John Brent Beckert and Wesley Lewis of Haynes and Boone, LLP, Thelma Garcia of the Office of Thelma Garcia, Efrén C. Olivares of the Texas Civil Rights Project, Manuel Solis of the Law Offices of Manuel Solis and Jaime Dies of Jones & Crane.
To read the full article, click here.