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The permanent injunction in
Orantes-Hernandez
v. Gonzalez, No. CV 82-1107 MMM (VBKx) (C.D.Cal.), prohibits
government officials from coercing or otherwise improperly encouraging
people from El Salvador detained by immigration authorities to waive
their rights. In
Orantes,
following a trial that lasted over a year, the court found that
immigration authorities engaged in systematic practices of coercing and
otherwise discouraging Salvadorans from applying for asylum, and
encouraging them to abandon claims for asylum and to waive their rights
and accept return to El Salvador. These practices included pressuring
Salvadorans to accept voluntary departure during their arrest and
processing, telling them that asylum was not available, and limiting
their access to counsel and information about their rights at detention
centers.
Based on these findings, the court issued a permanent injunction to end
these coercive practices and ensure that the constitutional and
statutory rights of class members to apply for asylum, retain counsel,
prepare their legal cases, and have immigration court hearings were
protected. The injunction also establishes basic minimum standards for
the treatment of Salvadorans while in immigration detention.
In
Nov. 2005, DHS filed a motion to dissolve the injunction in the case,
and that motion is currently proceeding in federal district court in Los
Angeles. There is nothing in the injunction that bars the government
from applying expedited removal to Salvadorans or that requires the
government to release Salvadorans from detention pending removal. NILC
has prepared an in-depth
explanation of the issues surrounding the Orantes injunction
and expedited removal.
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