The Pennsylvania judiciary does not have to be complicit in
ICE’s assault on the integrity of its justice system. On Wednesday, the Sheller
Center for Social Justice at Temple University Beasley School of Law released
a new
report detailing the devastating impact of ICE’s tactics on
Pennsylvania’s immigrants—and urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to halt
state courts’ collusion with the agency. Its findings bolsters proposals
put forth by the ICE Out of Courts Coalition, a collection of public
defenders and immigrant advocates led by Community Legal Services. The
Pennsylvania Supreme Court can’t stop ICE from snatching immigrants in their
homes, schools, and offices. But it can keep ICE agents out of the courthouses
where immigrants have a constitutional right to be.
Unsurprisingly, the Temple report notes that ICE activity in
Pennsylvania surged after
Trump’s election, partly because the president encouraged officers
to target individuals without criminal records. ICE conducted courthouse
arrests in at least 13 Pennsylvania counties, most of which have large
immigrant populations. Probation officials, meanwhile, regularly collaborate
with the agency, telling ICE agents which probationers are undocumented. Some
probation officers inform ICE when probationers are scheduled for a
check-in—allowing ICE to wait at the courthouse and arrest them when they
arrive. Others share probationers’ personal information with ICE so agents can
seize them at their homes.
Judges, too, help ICE identify undocumented individuals
whose immigration status has nothing to do with their claims before the court.
A Cumberland County judge called
ICE on a couple seeking to get married because she suspected the
groom, who is Hispanic, was undocumented. (He wasn’t, but ICE came to the
courtroom and fingerprinted him just to make sure.) A Lancaster County judge
pressed a defendant about his immigration status during a traffic hearing; when
he acknowledged that he was undocumented, the judge had him jailed and asked a
police officer to notify ICE. Chester County judges have asked individuals with
“Spanish surnames” about their immigration status in an effort to identify
undocumented immigrants to report.
The Temple study’s authors implore the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court—which promulgates rules for the state judiciary—to convene a task force
to craft a response to ICE’s assault on courthouses. Luckily, the ICE Out of
Courts Coalition has already proposed a
number of sensible policies for the courts to adopt. Among other
things, the coalition has called on the courts to prohibit immigration arrests
at courthouses, including their “outlying premises”; to prohibit collusion
between ICE and court personnel; and to compel ICE officers to identify
themselves upon entering a state courthouse.
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court proved it was not
afraid to take bold action to safeguard individuals’ rights under the state
constitution, striking
down a GOP gerrymanderdespite a relentless
assault by Republican lawmakers. Its progressive majority should not
back down from a fight with Trump’s deportation machine. The justices do not
have to stand idly by as the Pennsylvania judiciary becomes a stalking ground
for ICE agents. They have the power to stop ICE’s immigrations arrests at state
courthouses. And Pennsylvania’s victimized, vilified immigrants have nowhere
else to turn.
To read more CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment