Cardozo students continue to be seen on the front lines of justice. The Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic, along with The Bronx Defenders and The New York Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit November 15 to stop ICE’s unlawful practice of jailing 1000-2000 New Yorkers each year for months without providing them access to the judges who have the power to rerelease them.

The clinic filed the putative class action lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The suit challenges the unconstitutional practice of jailing immigrant New Yorkers for months before bringing them in front of a judge to assess whether they should be detained, what options for relief they might have, and, in many cases, meet their lawyers for the first time.

The time between when people are detained and when they see a judge for the first time has gone from under two weeks in 2014 to well over two months today. These unprecedented delays in access to judges unlawfully extend the detention of all ICE detainees in the New York area.

“People arrested by ICE and detained in criminal jails in New York and New Jersey are detained for months, simply waiting for a first hearing before a judge who can determine whether or not they should even be locked up,” said Jessica Kulig, a clinic student. “This practice violates the fundamental due process rights of more than a thousand people every year.”

A story about the lawsuit is expected to air later today on WNYC.