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US Reconsidering Legal Program for Detained Immigrants

时间:2018-06-04 23:06:08

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Imer still has pieces of a bullet in his back.

The 43-year-old Mexican immigrant fled the Mexican state of Guerrero more than 20 years ago after he was shot in the back by drug dealers1.

Imer asked VOA to use only his first name in this story.

He entered the United States illegally in 1998 and settled in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the building trade. Two months ago he was arrested and sent to Pennsylvania’s York County Prison.

“I’ve never committed a crime,” he said, as he began to cry. “Now, I don’t know what’s going to happen to my family if I am deported,” he said.

Imer has two American-born children.

Recently, he was among 12 undocumented immigrants sitting in a small room at the detention3 center. They gathered around a long table to hear a presentation in Spanish about their legal rights.

Fernanda Castillo explained the legal defenses open to the detainees. Castillo is with a legal aid group called Pennsylvania Immigration Resources, or PIRC.

“Our main goal is to provide them with, what are their rights, what to expect in immigration court, we go through a couple of defenses to see if they are eligible4 for something,” She also explains how to get out of prison and the rules of voluntary departure.

The U.S. Justice Department indirectly5 pays for PIRC’s class under the Legal Orientation6 Program (LOP). Created in 2003, the the program gives detained immigrants some understanding of their rights and possible help under U.S. immigration law.

The Vera Institute of Justice administers the program, which costs $8 million a year. The program is carried out by PIRC and other nonprofit groups in more than 30 detention centers nationwide.

Legal orientation program

The orientation class lasts about an hour.

Castillo explained what the detainees could expect during their first appearance in a U.S. immigration court. Most wanted to know about the possibility of the judge approving their temporary release in exchange for a bail7 payment and a promise to return to the court at a future date.

“Am I eligible?” Castillo said, was the first question. “We get a lot of voluntary departure questions as well…A lot of people will not know the difference between a voluntary departure and a removal order.”

Voluntary departure means someone may be able to return legally someday, although usually years later. With removal, there is no chance of returning, as Castillo explained to the class.

PIRC gets $200,000 a year for the information classes and one-on-one meetings it holds with detainees at the York County Prison.

PIRC Executive Director Mary Studzinski says the classes have a direct effect on the immigration court process.

“It allows someone when they’re done with that class to have a better sense of whether they have any hope of staying.”

She explained that many illegal immigrants choose voluntary departure once they understand their rights. She said this helps to lower the number of court cases.

This saves the U.S. Treasury8 Department almost $18 million a year, according to a 2012 Vera Institute study. Last year, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) report endorsed10 the program, saying it helps detainees complete their cases faster.

Yet Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has concerns about it. Earlier this year, he suspended money for the program until there is a review. But reacting to congressional pressure, Sessions later told Senators that financing would continue as the program is reviewed.

The judge’s job

A Justice Department official later told VOA that it is time for a new study. The official said the program tells detainees information that the immigration judge also tells them.

But PIRC’s Studzinski says there is no comparison. While some judges are more methodical than others, “I’ve seen it done in less than five minutes and they certainly don’t take an hour...So if you ask me if a judge’s advisal is the same thing as a legal orientation, I would say no. Do I think advisals are important? Yes, they absolutely should remain in place but they are in no way a substitute for the Legal Orientation Program.”

Studzinski adds that PIRC this year will help 2,600 detainees, a much larger number than two years ago. Many of the new detainees have lived in U.S. communities for 10 or more years and never committed a crime.

Imer is hoping to ask for asylum11.

During the recent PIRC orientation class, Imer said he had paid a lawyer $3,000 but had not heard from him in the two months he has been in prison. PIRC later found out the man was not a lawyer. The group is now trying to find a real lawyer for Imer.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

commit – v. to carry out

deport2 – v. to force (a person who is not a citizen) to leave a country; to expel

eligible – adj. able to be chosen for something : able to do or receive something

departure – n. the act of leaving a place

orientation – n. the process of giving people training and information about a new job, situation

bail – n. an amount of money given to a court to allow a prisoner to leave jail and return later for a trial

endorse9 – v. to publicly or officially say that you support or approve of something

review – n. an examination; a study

according – adv. as stated by or in


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dealers 95e592fc0f5dffc9b9616efd02201373     
n.商人( dealer的名词复数 );贩毒者;毒品贩子;发牌者
参考例句:
  • There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
  • The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败,与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。
2 deport aw2x6     
vt.驱逐出境
参考例句:
  • We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
  • More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。
3 detention 1vhxk     
n.滞留,停留;拘留,扣留;(教育)留下
参考例句:
  • He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
  • He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。
4 eligible Cq6xL     
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的
参考例句:
  • He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
  • Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。
5 indirectly a8UxR     
adv.间接地,不直接了当地
参考例句:
  • I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
  • They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人,他们进行了间接接触。
6 orientation IJ4xo     
n.方向,目标;熟悉,适应,情况介绍
参考例句:
  • Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
  • The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。
7 bail Aupz4     
v.舀(水),保释;n.保证金,保释,保释人
参考例句:
  • One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
  • She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。
8 treasury 7GeyP     
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库
参考例句:
  • The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
  • This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
9 endorse rpxxK     
vt.(支票、汇票等)背书,背署;批注;同意
参考例句:
  • No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
  • I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。
10 endorsed a604e73131bb1a34283a5ebcd349def4     
vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 );在(尤指支票的)背面签字;在(文件的)背面写评论;在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品
参考例句:
  • The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案,开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所,庇护所,避难
参考例句:
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

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