Immigrants’ hearings delayed.

No official notice ever was given out

Nearly two weeks ago, immigration lawyers showed up at a downtown immigration court for hearings or dialed into the courtroom from home. But the doors were shut, the phone disconnected.

With no notice, the courts on St. Mary’s Street that hold hearings for detained immigrants were shut down indefinitely May 4.

Lawyers were told by clerks at another local immigration court that there was a case of coronavirus at the facility. They weren’t given details, sparking fears that some were exposed to the virus.

“They quarantined their staff for their safety but didn’t let the counsel know. If we were in court that week or that day, we should’ve taken the same precautions,” immigration lawyer Melanie Lira said.

The pandemic has exacerbated the enormous backlog of cases in immigration court, which had surpassed 1 million cases precoronavirus — a record high.

Nondetained hearings — conducted at the Dolorosa Street court building — have been postponed until June 12, which means the immigration proceedings of those who live in the community are delayed.

Hearings for migrants caught in the nearly defunct Remain in Mexico program, which requires U.S. asylum-seekers to wait on the streets or in shelters in northern Mexico, have been postponed until June 19.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review acknowledged it closed the court when it learned someone who had tested positive with the novel coronavirus was present.

San Antonio has nearly 30,400 immigration cases pending in its courts, according to the Syracuse University-based organization Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Texas has more than 173,000, behind only California with the highest number of backlogged cases.

With the St. Mary’s Street courts closed, immigrants in detention must stay there until they get a hearing.

The virus is spreading rapidly in jails and prisons, raising fear that immigrants who could qualify for release might instead be exposed. The South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, some 40 miles southwest of San Antonio, has seen a rise in cases to 32 in the past few weeks.

Overall, more than 270 immigrants have tested positive for the coronavirus at Texas immigrant detention centers.

A clerk at the Dolorosa Street courts — which remain open for some detained immigrant cases — confirmed to the San Antonio Express-News that the St. Mary’s courts were under quarantine due to a case of the coronavirus. The clerk said no official bulletins or memos were sent out.

“Everybody has been learning from me, basically,” he said.

Lawyers remain frustrated at the lack of communication, and the potential risk it put them in.

The doors are locked to the St. Mary’s court building. A sign, now outdated, says “the court will be closed until May 11.”

“There’s been such a lack of transparency of what is going on,” immigration lawyer Hillary Peldner said. “We don’t know what’s closed, how long they’re closed, who’s sick. Are we at risk? I mean, I’m 35 weeks pregnant.”

The canceled hearings range from final ones, which determine immigrants’ deportation fate, to simpler bond hearings — petitions brought by immigrants with no criminal history to get released from detention while their cases make their way through the courts.

With the backlog, lawyers fear the canceled hearings will get postponed months in advance.

On May 4, Melanie Lira, a local immigration lawyer, waited for hours for the judge for a morning hearing to give her a call so she could participate in the hearing via phone — an increasingly common scenario during the pandemic.

But she never got that call, and the case of her detained client, Juan, never moved forward. She learned later the courts had closed that day.

Juan, whose last name is being withheld for fear it would affect his case, has been detained since February.

He was living in the U.S. on a visa for years to care for his U.S. citizen daughter who had leukemia and since has died. His other child also is a U.S. citizen. But after a failure to renew his parole, he was picked up on a traffic violation and put in immigrant detention.

He was denied bond. He was scheduled for a hearing May 4, which would set the date for his final hearing, when the judge would rule on his potential deportation.

He’s detained at the Laredo Processing Center, which hasn’t reported any coronavirus cases.

“That means you’re talking about another six weeks being detained, without bond, in a pandemic,” Lira said.

Detained immigrants have grown increasingly anxious and fearful. In late March, 60 immigrants at the South Texas Detention Complex staged a protest demanding their release. They were pepper-sprayed by guards. The center has stopped admitting new detainees, but it continues to transfer them out.

A 57-year-old man was the first to die in ICE custody of the coronavirus. He was at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in California, which has the worst outbreak: nearly 150 cases.

“At least with the nondetained cases, they’re out and can quarantine with their families. But the detainees are suffering, I can’t imagine being in their shoes,” Peldner said. “They’re scared they’re going to die in the U.S., in a detention center, and their families are never going to see them again.”