San Francisco immigration court had no arrests on Thursday, but Friday's morning docket included several families with children and four individual adults. All attendees went before the judge without attorneys. A young Colombian woman took the stand around 9:30 a.m. The Department of Homeland Security attorney sought to dismiss her case; the judge, Joseph Park, joined virtually and rejected the motion. A pro-bono "attorney of the day," Amanda Maya, advised the woman to remain silent and collected an emergency contact. ICE agents waited outside the courtroom and immediately handcuffed and arrested the woman in the hallway before taking her to be processed.
The Department of Homeland Security attorney looked up from her computer to Judge Joseph Park's screen; the judge joined the meeting virtually, and spoke to asylum-seekers through a Spanish interpreter. The federal attorney said, "Your honor, I have a motion for this case." DHS attorneys have recently been moving to dismiss asylum-seekers' cases. This renders them vulnerable to arrest and deportation but, even when judges reject those motions, it makes little difference: ICE agents wait outside the courtroom and arrest the asylum-seekers regardless.
The Colombian woman was then ushered from the stand to a bench by the "attorney of the day," a pro-bono lawyer who attends immigration hearings to tell asylum-seekers what to expect - including that they will likely be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the hallway. The attorney, Amanda Maya, told her she could remain silent, and collected the emergency contact of a trusted person who could be told of her detention.
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