RAICES.” RAICES would collect that list from GEO at regular intervals throughout the day to call in and screen women for emergency legal needs. On April 11, 2019, RAICES was informed that the list would no longer be provided throughout the day or posted in the visitation waiting area and instead would be faxed once a day. This rule change - with no prior notice made it difficult for RAICES to inform clients where they could sign up to meet with the team but also to accommodate emergency requests to prepare clients for last-minute deportations, Credible/Reasonable Fear interviews, or court hearings. Again, considering that the vast majority of people in Karnes were in expedited removal, a delay of just a few hours could result in deportation. Interviews and court hearings often come with less than a day’s notice, if any, so allowing detained people multiple avenues to request RAICES’ services is crucial.
R E M OVAL OF P R OVIS ION S FOR AT TO R NE YS Over the course of adult women’s detention at Karnes, ICE and GEO also imposed a number of rule changes that made working conditions markedly more difficult for the RAICES team who spent upwards of ten hours a day at the prison. In April, 2019, ICE informed RAICES that they could no longer use the “pro bono room,” a small office in which RAICES stored paperwork, a printer and scanner, tissues for clients, writing utensils, and other materials pivotal to provide legal services for those in expedited removal. In the weeks following, RAICES staff saw the room utilized to give GEO employees massages as well as to host visiting insurance advertisers there to meet with prospective GEO clients. Additionally, the refrigerator and microwave in the break room outside of legal visitation were removed, eliminating the ability of the RAICES team to store food in order to maximize time with detained persons at the prison. To add insult to injury, in May 2019 RAICES was barred from even eating in the break
room, though the space was not used for any alternative purpose. RAICES staff had to eat on a bench without a table outside the facility or in the prison lobby. Additionally, attorneys and volunteers were required to bring their materials in transparent bags, a rule imposed in addition to passing through a metal detector and searches of personal items. Without explanation or notice, for a time ICE forced RAICES staff to carry all items in their hands. In September 2019, ICE removed RAICES access to lockers in the lobby for storage of cell phones, and the team had to instead leave their phones in parked cars in the Texas heat. At one point, an ICE officer prohibited a RAICES attorney from using a cell phone for a representation-related call in the lobby and the staff person had to take the call in a parked car in the sweltering summer. Ultimately, the impact of these changes is most important to the people detained. It should also be noted that many of the so-called accommodations or amenities cited are exceedingly rare at immigration prisons. These changes are significant, not only because ICE and GEO targeted attorneys and created an environment in which it is more difficult for detained people to access regular legal services, but also to illustrate the swiftness with which ICE authority can undo years of past collaboration with advocates to erase conditions that favored robust attorney presence.
ACCESS TO COU N SEL BY T H E N U M BERS The rule changes had a significant negative impact on detained women’s access to counsel during this period, especially RAICES’ clients. There were an average of 196 women with whom RAICES scheduled a legal visit each day, but some days there were as many as 565. RAICES was, on average, able to meet with only 64 women per day. This is a distinct departure from
38
