FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A Fresno immigration attorney spoke candidly about the methods he’s seen immigration officials employ against his clients.
“They will lie. I mean, they flat out lie to people,” said Attorney George Rios.
“They count on people being uninformed. They count on people being afraid,” he added.
Rios gave us an idea of the current state of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services meetings here in the Central Valley.
The interviews typically involve immigration benefits, such as legal permanent residency through a spouse or naturalization.
But now, Rios says, behind-the-scenes conversations are leading to surprise detainments.
“The way that it works is the officer who’s conducting the interview has reviewed the case ahead of time, and they’ve determined that the case where ice might want to detain someone,” Rios explained.
The client sits there, believing they’re doing the right thing and fulfilling their legal duty.
Meanwhile, Rios says the officer is relaying information to their supervisor, who is in direct contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“At that point, the officer will step out, and then the supervising officer with the two ICE agents will then walk into the interview and detain somebody,” Rios said.
UC Merced Sociology professor Daisy Reyes tells Action News the tactic is troubling.
“There’s an understanding that there was respect for the rule of law. And these individuals are coming, and they do not expect the US government to change the rules on them in the middle of the proceeding,” Reyes said.
And just this week, the Department of Justice admitted to a federal judge that it has been wrongly relying on an ICE memo to justify arrests at immigration courts.
In response, the DOJ apologized, writing in part, the memo,
“does not and has never applied to civil immigration enforcement actions in or near the Executive Office for Immigration Review immigration courts.”
But the department, also defending its jurisdiction, writing,
“There is no change in policy. We will continue to arrest illegal aliens at immigration courts following their proceedings. It is common sense to take them into custody following the completion of their removal proceedings. Nothing prohibits arresting a lawbreaker where you find them.”
And Rios is encouraging anyone going through immigration proceedings to educate themselves on the process and hire an immigration attorney as soon as possible.
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