Press Release: ACLU of Massachusetts Applauds Federal Court's Affirmation of Immigrant Rights: Decision highlights issues for impending Mass. case

BOSTON - With the First Circuit Court of Appeals set to hear a Massachusetts case involving the rights of immigrants next week, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts welcomed yesterday's federal court decision in Pennsylvania affirming that key protections set forth in the U.S. Constitution apply to everyone in the country, citizens and non-citizens.

Oral arguments will be heard on Wednesday, August 1, at 9:30 a.m., in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Aguilar v. ICE, a case deciding the fate of immigrants detained in March after a raid on a New Bedford factory.

Yesterday's federal court decision in Pennsylvania declared unconstitutional a local ordinance in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, that sought to punish landlords and employers for doing business with undocumented immigrants. The landmark decision in the closely-watched challenge to Hazleton's anti-immigrant ordinance held that the ordinance cannot be enforced. More information on the case, Lozano v. Hazleton, is available online at www.aclu.org/hazleton.

Writing for the court, Judge James M. Munley said, "We cannot say clearly enough that persons who enter this country without legal authorization are not stripped immediately of all their rights because of this single act ... The United States Supreme Court has consistently interpreted [the 14th Amendment] to apply to all people present in the United States, whether they were born here, immigrated here through legal means, or violated federal law to enter the country."

"Yesterday's decision on the Hazleton ordinance helps makes it clear that citizens and non-citizens have Constitutional rights that should not be trampled or ignored by overzealous public officials," said Carol Rose, Executive Director for the ACLU of Massachusetts. "In New Bedford, the raid conducted by government officials made it impossible for people to exercise their fundamental due process rights. Instead, they were transferred across the country before most of them could speak to their families or their lawyers. From this remote detention center in Texas, we have reports that conditions are harsh and immigrants have been mistreated, misinformed and coerced into waiving their rights."

The ACLU of Massachusetts has worked since the raid with attorneys from Greater Boston Legal Services, the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Catholic Social Services, and Dechert, LLP to argue that immigrants were denied their constitutional right to due process, the right to attorneys of their choice, and to fair bond hearings because government officials intentionally separated them from their families and communities, denied them access to counsel, and coerced them into waiving their rights.

Oral arguments in Aguilar v. ICE will be heard in U.S. Circuit Court on Wednesday, Aug. 1, at 9:30 a.m. at the Moakley Court House in the Court of Appeals Panel Room on the 7th floor. The argument is open to the public.