Case Overview
In 1982, the National Immigration Law Center and co-counsel filed a class action lawsuit to stop the federal government from coercing Salvadoran nationals into abandoning their asylum rights while in immigration detention. The case presented evidence that the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), ICE’s predecessor, had violated the rights of Salvadoran detainees in multiple ways, including providing misleading information about their rights to seek political asylum, denying adequate access to counsel, and placing them in solitary confinement without a hearing.
After a lengthy trial, in 1988, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a permanent injunction requiring the INS (now Department of Homeland Security) to uphold certain rights of all Salvadoran detainees who are eligible to apply for asylum and who have been, are, or will be taken into government custody. These standards included providing detainees with written notice about their rights, ensuring access to telephones, counsel, and legal materials while in detention, and refraining from coercing people into signing voluntary departure agreements.
Over the years since the injunction was entered, NILC has monitored the government’s compliance with it and, multiple times, has stepped in to enforce the injunction’s provisions.
NILC continues our active role as class counsel to respond to individual inquiries from practitioners and directly impacted individuals regarding potential violations of the injunction. These efforts have included securing the release from custody of a mother and son who had been transferred outside of the district of their apprehension in violation of the injunction, as well as securing parole back into the U.S. in November 2022 for a mother and her daughter who were wrongfully removed to El Salvador without the proper Orantes procedures.
Legal Documents
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Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Memorandum – April 6, 2009
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U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- Order Denying Plaintiffs’ Application for Temporary Restraining Order; Construing Plaintiffs’ Application as a Motion to Compel Discovery; Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel Discover – July 17, 2014
- Modified, Consolidated Injunction – Nov. 26, 2007
- Amended Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants’ Motion to Dissolve the Orantes Injunction – July 24, 2007
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request – Mar. 15, 2007
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Sep 1, 2024 The Orantes injunction is a nationwide, permanent injunction requiring DHS to uphold certain rights of Salvadoran nationals in asylum proceedings. Originally published in November...
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