Judge hears arguments concerning immigrant detainees' right to see lawyers

A federal judge heard arguments on Thursday but made no immediate ruling on whether to make permanent her temporary order, which ensures that immigrants detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in downtown Los Angeles can see their attorneys promptly.

U.S. District Judge Maame E. Frimpong issued the temporary restraining order in July, requiring that detainees confined in the basement facility known as B-18 in the federal building be given access to lawyers as required by the Fifth Amendment right to counsel.

Before the start of the hearing in Los Angeles federal court, Frimpong issued her tentative ruling to attorneys for both sides. According to comments made during the proceeding, it was apparent that the judge was leaning toward extending the TRO. She is expected to issue her ruling in writing at a later date.

Since June 6, ICE has detained thousands of people in Los Angeles, many of them sent to B-18, which is designed to hold people only temporarily.

According to plaintiffs' attorney Mark Rosenbaum, who is representing individuals who say they were held at the federal building in illegal conditions while being denied access to lawyers, B-18 was designed to hold people only temporarily for processing before release or transport to a longer-term detention facility. It has no beds, showers or medical facilities, and is limited in size.

But, plaintiffs argue, ICE transformed B-18 into a de facto long-term detention facility for detainees swept up in immigration raids and mass arrests over the summer, and individuals held there have had their contact with the outside world purposely obstructed.

The Justice Department counters that detainees were never intentionally barred from contact with attorneys. Still, circumstances during unrest on the streets over ICE immigration operations caused conditions at B-18 that were far from normal.

Government attorney Jonathan Ross asserted Thursday that conditions at B-18 have "normalized" and even without a court order, "the government is going to do the right thing" and ensure that detainees have access to counsel.

"The court should not be ordering the government to do what it is already doing," Ross said, adding that "the record shows plaintiffs are receiving what's required."

Frimpong responded that in the period after she issued the initial TRO in July, "there were still violations," so any future injunction would deal with the "future."

Rosenbaum insisted that the denial of Fifth Amendment rights at the ICE facility continues on Thursday despite what the government contends.

"There should not be partial compliance," the civil rights attorney said. "There should be full compliance."

Also in July, the judge issued an order barring federal agents from making immigration arrests resulting from "roving patrols" that targeted people for deportation based on their race or language, but the U.S. Supreme Court lifted those restrictions.

The TRO involving the B-18 processing center remains in place and was not appealed or stayed by the Supreme Court.

Plaintiffs said the hearing on Thursday signals new momentum for their side. Earlier this week, the judge approved expedited discovery on the roving patrols claims, allowing attorneys to gather evidence -- including documents, data and depositions -- related to alleged unlawful stops, detentions and racial profiling during immigration raids.

It is the first immigration raids case under U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to move into discovery, according to plaintiff attorneys.

The hearing is part of a lawsuit filed in early July in Los Angeles federal court in which Southern California residents, workers and advocacy groups accused DHS of "abducting and disappearing" community members using unlawful stop and warrantless arrest tactics and confining individuals at the federal building in illegal conditions while denying access to attorneys.

Lead plaintiff Pedro Vasquez Perdomo, 54, a day laborer from Pasadena, says he was waiting to be picked up for a construction job at a Metro bus stop in front of a Winchell's Donuts in Pasadena on the morning of June 18 when he and two others were surrounded by masked men with guns, arrested and taken to the detention center, where he remained for three weeks, much of that time without access to attorneys. He has since been granted bond and released.

Frimpong's orders apply in Los Angeles and six surrounding counties.

Additional reporting by City News Service