BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Journey's End Refugee Services is training its attorneys to petition federal courts to release immigration detainees being held while their cases move through the legal system.
The Buffalo agency has long provided legal assistance to refugees and immigrants navigating the immigration process. But as detention numbers surge nationwide, Journey's End is equipping its lawyers with new tools to challenge those detentions in federal court.
As of July 11, more than 65,000 people are being held in immigration detention facilities across the country, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which tracks U.S. immigration data. Two years ago, that number was just over 37,000.
Liza Callahan, director of immigration legal services at Journey's End, said there's been a shift in policy, even for people who are following the rules.
"Before, people were usually okay, and they were able to live freely. They were able to work, and as long as they did what they were supposed to do, what the government required them to do. Normally, they would be fine up until their hearing in immigration court," Callahan said. "But now people who are doing everything they're supposed to do and are not people with criminal charges are being detained just because they have pending asylum in the US."
WATCH: Refugee agency trains lawyers to challenge immigration detention through federal courts
This week, Gary Restaino, a former U.S. attorney in Arizona, is teaching Journey's End attorneys how to file habeas corpus petitions — requests asking a federal court to order a detainee's release on bond.
Restaino said many detainees currently face a stark choice: remain behind bars or self-deport.
"If the choice is only I stay in detention, or I self-deport, they might well take that thing that's not really a choice and decide to give up their dreams in America. Habeas offers an opportunity to at least give them a bite at the apple, to at least give them an opportunity to get in front of a judge," Restaino said.
Irene Rekhviashvili, a supervising attorney at Journey's End, is set to be sworn in next month to practice in federal court. She said the work is about more than legal procedure.
"We feel that if somebody hasn't done — who is just living in the United States following the rules that allow them to apply for asylum, allow them to be in this country to do their cases with dignity and with humanity," Rekhviashvili said.
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