The New York Times: ‘A Storm Is Coming’: Fears of an Inmate Epidemic as the Virus Spreads in the Jails
“Public defenders and advocates for inmates have called for sending home all inmates with pre-existing medical conditions, those over 50 and anyone jailed for a parole violation. “It is a ticking time bomb,” said Justine Olderman, executive director of the Bronx Defenders. “We’re looking for bold action and leadership.” On Saturday, the Board of Correction,…
Vice: Immigrants Are Now on Hunger Strike in 3 ICE Detention Centers Over Coronavirus Fears
“Attorneys who represent detainees at the Hudson and Essex County facilities say inmates are reporting threats and intimidation by guards when they’re heard discussing conditions on the phone. Because detention centers across the country have already canceled in-person visits from family and attorneys as a precautionary measure, this means detainees are increasingly isolated and in…
Business Insider: A Rikers Island inmate contracted coronavirus. Experts say jails are at high risk for an outbreak.
Inmates there and around New York City have lodged complaints that the jails lack “basic sanitation measures,” according to the Legal Aid Society. “There are broken sinks, there’s no hand sanitizer, people don’t have access to soap,” Justine Olderman, executive director of Bronx Defenders, told The Intercept. “And at a time we’re all being asked to…
NJ.com: ICE detainees go on hunger strike in N.J amid coronavirus fears, lawyers say
“The hunger strike just underlines how deeply problematic ICE’s management of the situation is,” the joint statement said. “We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. ICE has done nothing to rise to the occasion but instead continues to put the lives of hundreds of people at risk.” The statement says that attorneys from…
The Appeal: ICE Detainees Launch Hunger Strike Over Coronavirus Fears
The organizers are attempting to spread the strike through the whole facility, including to workers at the jail. “We are asking our fellow brothers in ICE [custody] to join us. We are also asking the kitchen workers that work in the main kitchen downstairs to not go to work,” the strikers said. “There is power…
The Intercept: Coronavirus Has Arrived At Rikers Island: Inside New York City Jails, Where The Pandemic Is Set To Explode
The restricted ability of people locked on Rikers to protect themselves is a problem because many of them, due to age or underlying health conditions, are at higher risk of getting very sick or dying from the disease. It’s also a problem because the officials tasked with making sure incarcerated people are safe have so far refused…
New York Magazine: Will Rikers Island Free Inmates Because of the Coronavirus?
“The only way we can possibly keep incarcerated people safe is to release them,” said Justine Olderman, executive director of the Bronx Defenders. “The next best thing is to drastically reduce the number of people being held. Neither of those things are being done right now. As public defenders, what we’re actually seeing happen is…
Yahoo: ICE Arrests Need To Stop NOW To Prevent The Spread Of Coronavirus
Thankfully, there are some courageous lawyers in New York City who are fighting to change this dangerous status quo. They join the ranks of prominent organizations like the ACLU who filed suit against ICE on Monday for the release of nine detainees held at a Washington state detention center who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. This current…
HipLatina: ICE Is Bringing Kids to NYC Despite Coronavirus Outbreak
The coronavirus outbreak has closed schools, businesses, and has forced many to remain at home. With so many precautions underway, several organizations allege that ICE is handling undocumented people as if it was business as usual. NSC learned ICE was transporting 6 minors from Dallas to NY during #COVIDー19 We went to the airport to witness their…
The Baffler: The Deserving Migrant
The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project ensures that everyone in ICE custody in New York City is guaranteed access to an attorney, regardless of their criminal legal status. “We never wanted to play into the rhetoric of the ‘good, deserving’ immigrant versus the less deserving person who may have had contact with the criminal legal system,”…
The Appeal: Justice In America Episode 23: Criminalizing Mothers
Josie Duffy Rice and guest co-host Zak Cheney-Rice talk with Emma Ketteringham, the managing director of the Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice, about the relationship between the criminal justice system and family court, and how together they can wreak havoc on American families. Listen to the full podcast here
Quartz: ICE changed an algorithm to prevent the release of detained immigrants
Momentarily put aside your positions on immigration policy, if you will, and consider this case of alleged algorithmic rigging. Whatever your feelings on people seeking legal status in the US, you may find cause for concern about humanity’s growing reliance on machines to determine liberty. Last week, the Bronx Defenders and New York Civil Liberties Union…
Latin Post: ICE Sued for Misconduct by New York Civil Rights Activists
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is going to undergo legal proceedings for the improper processing of immigrants. The migrants were supposed to stay idle and wait for their court hearings without being locked up, but ICE did otherwise. ICE is facing a lawsuit that was filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)…
Slate: How Automation Bias Encourages the Use of Flawed Algorithms
From 2013 to June 2017, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York Field Office determined that about 47 percent of detainees designated as “low risk” should be released while they waited for their immigration cases to be resolved, according to FOIA data obtained by the New York Civil Liberties Union. But something changed in the…
Bronx Justice News: ICE Has Secret “No-Release” Policy for Detainees in NYC, Suit Claims
The NYCLU and Bronx Defenders sued the federal government this week, claiming ICE is unlawfully keeping thousands of New Yorkers jailed for non-criminal immigration offenses. Nearly everyone ICE apprehended over the last three years remains in lockup, the lawsuit alleges, despite a federal law mandating individualized custody determinations be made by ICE officials within 48 hours…
The Washington Post: A lawsuit against ICE reveals the danger of government-by-algorithm
It is the job of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to determine — case by case — whether people arrested for immigration offenses ought to be detained, released on bond or just trusted to show up in court. For years, ICE has used an algorithm to help make this decision, one that weighs factors…
Politico: NYPD, de Blasio blame bail reform for crime spike as defenders question police stats
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD reported a major spike in crime for the second straight month and doubled down on blaming the jump on bail reform — even as public defenders charged police may be manipulating the stats to push their agenda. Major crime jumped by 22.5 percent in February compared with the…
Brinkwire: New York ICE officials accused of rigging algorithms to detain immigrants in detention centers
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using an algorithm in 2013 that recommends or denies the release of those arrested for immigration violations –and a new lawsuit claims the technology is rigged. Filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and Bronx Defenders, the allegations say ICE officials in New York City tampered with…
Legal Reader: Lawsuit Says ICE Rigged its Own Software So That It’d Never Have to Release Immigrants
The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, claiming ICE rigged its software to migrants behind bars longer than ordinarily allowed. The class action, filed by the NYCLU alongside Bronx Defenders, centers on ICE’s Risk Classification Assessment system. The RCA software, writes Gizmodo, uses algorithms to determine…
Daily Mail: New York ICE officials accused of rigging algorithms to illegally detain immigrants in detention centers
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began using an algorithm in 2013 that recommends or denies the release of those arrested for immigration violations –and a new lawsuit claims the technology is rigged. Filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) and Bronx Defenders, the allegations say ICE officials in New York City tampered with the software to eliminate the…
Fudzilla: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses a rigged algorithm
A lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders alleges that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses a rigged algorithm to detain virtually everyone ICEs New York Field Office brings in, even when the government itself believes they present a minimal threat to public safety. According to The Intercept the suit asks that ICE’s…
The City: NYPD Stalls On Sharing Property Seizure Stats Required By City Law
Marventz Sulfradin didn’t know his date had a gun until police began pulling them over after they bought chicken nuggets and fries from a Brooklyn McDonald’s drive-thru in November. When the cops flashed their lights, the date, who was driving, pulled the firearm from his jacket, plopped it in Sulfradin’s lap and told him to…
New York Post: NYC’s public defenders claim NYPD may be faking spike in crime
A decrease in the number of criminal cases city prosecutors are pursuing suggests that the crime spike recently reported by the NYPD could be a ruse to incite fear over criminal justice reforms, a coalition of public defenders said Tuesday. “Since the NYPD controls how, when, and where they arrest people and what they charge an arrested…
Latino USA: Lawsuit Accuses ICE of Illegal Detention Before Hearings
A new class-action lawsuit accuses U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of keeping nearly all arrested immigrants locked up instead of releasing them to wait for their court dates. Bronx Defenders and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) partnered on the lawsuit against the agency. ICE is legally mandated to evaluate cases individually and release people…
The Verge: ICE rigged its algorithms to keep immigrants in jail, claims lawsuit
A new lawsuit claims Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rigged software to create a “secret no-release policy” for people suspected of breaking immigration laws. ICE’s New York office uses a risk assessment algorithm to recommend that an arrestee be released or detained until a hearing. But the New York Civil Liberties Union and Bronx Defenders say the…