ACLU sues over hearings for detained immigrants

SAN DIEGO — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the federal government to limit the amount of time that people can be held before seeing an immigration judge, saying many are held for months while waiting for an initial appearance.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court on behalf of three Mexicans at a San Diego immigration detention center, but the ACLU asks to represent all people who are held on immigration violations along California’s border with Mexico who are held for more than 48 hours.

People “routinely languish in detention for two months or longer before they see a judge,” according to lawsuit, calling the wait excessive and a violation of constitutional rights for people in custody.

“The first hearing before an immigration judge, like first appearance in criminal court, is critical to ensuring due process,” it says.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration detention facilities, declined to comment on pending litigation, as did the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a part of the U.S. Justice Department that oversees immigration judges.

The lawsuit comes as President Donald Trump moves to significantly expand border and immigration enforcement, which will further strain already stretched detention centers and courts unless Congress provides more money.

Under a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision, immigrants who are ordered deported cannot be held indefinitely. The government must come up with a special reason for holding people longer than six months if their countries are unlikely to take them back in the “reasonably foreseeable future.”