New Opportunities for Parole for Detained Immigrants

Recently, due to the decision of some courts, including the Federal Court in Detroit, we have been able to secure the release of several individuals who were being held in immigration detention centers in Michigan, such as North Lake in Baldwin and Battle Creek,

These individuals were previously unable to be released due to the recent decision of the Immigration Appeals Court in August and the policies of ICE prosecutors, which state that when individuals enter without a visa or authorization, they do not qualify for release on parole, i.e., by paying a bond, and must remain in detention, sometimes for several months, while they fight their cases, causing many immigrants to be forced to sign their own deportation.

Habeas Corpus is a very limited federal legal procedure that allows a detained person to appear directly before a federal court, not an immigration court, to challenge their detention by asking the court to review their case and allow them to have a bond hearing or, in some cases, to be released on parole, especially for people who have not committed any criminal offense.

I call on all those who have family members or friends recently detained by ICE in any state and who have been told that they cannot be released on bail or parole by paying a bond, because they entered the United States without permission or inspection, currently in certain cases, especially for people who have been living in the United States for many years, who have no criminal record and have family members who are citizens, they can try to seek help through this legal remedy to obtain their freedom.

The difficulty with these types of cases is that they are somewhat complicated and not every attorney can handle them. The appeal must be filed here in Michigan through the federal court in Detroit. The ACLU legal group is organizing a group of volunteer attorneys who can do this, but they do not yet have enough. There are also private attorneys who are experts in immigration, such as myself, who are doing this, but obviously in most cases we have to charge the client or their family, but the expense may be worth it if the person is released.

The important thing is that if you know someone who is currently detained by ICE and has been told that they cannot be released on bail because they entered the United States without permission and must wait months and months in detention for a general hearing, they should contact me or a group or organization such as the ACLU to find out if they qualify to demand their release through the Habeas Corpus process, where the government will have to prove the reasons for keeping the person detained.

If you need more information, you can call my office at 616-235-4577.