My first sight of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Artesia, New Mexico reminded me of stories I heard from Japanese Americans who as children were held in internment camps. FLETC is entirely comprised of trailers. The detainees there are housed in trailers. The courts are trailers.
Upon arrival in Artesia we met with a pro bono project crew ā one attorney and two paralegals ā in a community church the location of which remains confidential for safety reasons. There are no legal services in Artesia. Apart from these three individuals, the only legal representation detainees have is the small teams of immigration attorneys who take turns to fly in each week from all over the country.
All of the 400-500 detainees at FLETC are women and children. The average age of the children appears to be 3-4 years old.
U.S. asylum law, which comes from the UN Refugee Convention and was codified into law by Congress, requires that if detainees express a fear of return to their home country they must be given an interview with an asylum officer. If they pass the interview, they get to see a judge to adjudicate their asylum case and are eligible for bond. If they don't pass, they have the right to ask an immigration judge to review the denial and possibly overturn it.
[For more of this story, written by Helen Lawrence, go to http://newamericamedia.org/201...n-detention-camp.php]
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