A government memo, obtained by the Washington Post, reveals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) praised a legal aid program educating detained immigrants on their legal rights, which is set to be suspended by the Department of Justice to audit its effectiveness, just four months before the announcement.
In the memo, sent on 30 November last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that the Legal Orientation Program, which is funded by the federal government, was set up to assist everyone involved in detainee and deportation cases, and told field office directors to grant access to over 30 detention centers, from Virginia to California, to lawyers and paralegals. The George W Bush administration started the program in 2003, to ensure immigrants were aware of their legal options and rights, according to the memo.
In the memo, Tae Johnson, the assistant director of custody management with ICE, said experience demonstrated that those who attend the Legal Orientation Program are able to make better-informed choices and are more likely to get legal representation and finish their cases quicker than those who do not.
Immigrant rights advocates claim the memo shows that ICE knows the program is effective and that the program is needed for immigrants who may face deportation from the US. According to an anonymous court spokesman, the ICE memo was based on information that is now outdated, hence the need for a new review.