HIRCP’s Detention Team fights for release of detained immigrants

By Mayra Espinoza-Martinez ’25 and Bridget Pranzatelli ’24

Mainstream conversations about immigration often rely on a problematic binary that sorts immigrants into two buckets – first, hardworking model immigrants deserving of compassion, and second, disposable, undeserving others. Detained immigrants are almost always considered part of that second bucket. In the spring of 2024, under the supervision of clinical instructor Eleni Bakst, students from the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and the Crimmigration Clinic participated in a new project that sought to challenge this over simplistic binary. The Detention Team, as they were called, specifically focused on direct representation of detained immigrants, securing release from detention and supporting in asylum cases. In the process, they got to join a beautiful community of clients and community partners in pursuit of a better future.

Detained immigrants are heavily marginalized, contending with multiple layers of racism and discrimination. Despite various studies showing that non-citizens commit crimes at a lower rate than citizens, non-citizens are more likely to be stopped, arrested, and detained by police.^[1] And of course, police interaction can be particularly dangerous for non-citizens: once in the criminal legal system, immigrants are much more likely to get picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and incarcerated in ICE detention while the government tries to deport them. The Clinics’ Detention Project worked alongside people in exactly this situation, representing clients to get them released. Though all of our clients’ charges – every charge, for every client – had already been dismissed by the time we met them, it was too late. They were already in ICE detention, with few ways to get out.

Bridget Pranzatelli ‘24 and Mayra Espinoza-Martinez ‘25 were both drawn to the project, albeit for different reasons. Pranzatelli worked for the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition before law school and knew she wanted to continue that work. Espinoza-Martinez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, so although the immigrant family experience was not new to her, the clinic offered an opportunity to suddenly be on a different side of the issue, in the position of advocate. “This project really resonated with me because there is a quantifiable good that you can hopefully make happen for one client, whose face and name and family you know. That keeps people in the fight and serves as a sort of antidote so as to not lose hope,” says Espinoza-Martinez.

Detained work can be particularly challenging because detention itself is so violent and contrary to understandings of due process. Immigrants are held in jails and prisons while the United States government tries to deport them. Many – some of whom we spoke to directly – suffer medical neglect, physical assault, or sexual assault. They do not have access to free counsel; 86% of detained immigrants go through their entire proceedings without an attorney at all.^[2] ICE also considers 60% of detained immigrants “mandatorily detained,” which means they cannot argue for their freedom – they must remain incarcerated.^[3] There is no other area of American law that allows for such a prolonged period of incarceration without an individualized hearing to formally determine the necessity of such detention.^[4]

One of the few ways for detained immigrants to get out of ICE detention is release on bond, which is similar to cash bail. Release on bond allows immigrants to return to their families, apply for work permit authorization, and pursue their cases from outside detention. This semester, the Detention Team represented three bond clients. Despite the odds, all three were granted bonds and, ultimately, released. The team also won release for two additional clients via parole, a similar process adjudicated by ICE. And with each client’s release, students were privileged enough to meet them and their families upon release, seeing the true impact of their work.

“This project really resonated with me because there is a quantifiable good that you can hopefully make happen for one client, whose face and name and family you know. That keeps people in the fight and serves as a sort of antidote so as to not lose hope.”

Mayra Espinoza-Martinez ’25

Students are at Harvard Law for just three years. In that brief tenure, they have a responsibility to the communities they are a part of, and this responsibility can and should extend outside of Harvard’s campus. For both Pranzatelli and Espinoza-Martinez, this project was the key to feeling like we have fulfilled that responsibility. Pranzatelli reflected: “For me, this project was so special because it had three important, thoughtful, radical pieces. First, we impact an individual client’s life in a massive way. Second, we impact the system more than an appeal or a big multi-year litigation effort was ever going to. And that’s because we got on good terms with two facilities and a judge, and shifted many small things through those conversations, and that makes more difference than a narrow court victory ever would. Third, we work with partners, and we build something together.”

There is often an assumption in law that “real” change occurs at the appellate level. But, when former president Trump left office in 2020, his picks comprised one-third of the Supreme Court, 30% of the 13 circuit courts, and more than one-quarter of all judges presiding over the nation’s 94 district courts.^[5] In an era of federal circuit court packing, individual representation that is localized and rooted in context may actually be more powerful and necessary than ever. For the students on the Detention Team, this meant making powerful arguments in local immigration court about what the evidentiary burden the government must meet to incarcerate someone, and why we should question the reliability of police reports. And, it meant staying in touch with facilities to ensure clients were receiving mail, had sufficient access to phone and video calls, and had their medical needs met. The team did all of this in coordination with – and following the lead of – the PAIR Project, who have been representing detained people in the area for years. But none of it would have been possible without representing individual clients. Not only does direct representation support one client’s interests, it hopefully helps build better conditions and an easier system for hundreds of detained individuals that will pass through the Boston Immigration Court in the years to come.

In the face of such intense structural violence against immigrants, the relationship with the clients and community are what kept the students going. “It’s a big community effort, and that’s the antidote to the big systemic violence. The most beautiful part of this project was seeing the full team come together – PAIR project who runs jail visits to flag the cases, the clinics who take the cases and assigns students, the clients who gives us their whole story and fills out endless paperwork and applications, the client’s family who get all the records and letters of support together, and then, if we win, BIJAN who actually helps pay the bond and get the person home. Every link in the chain is essential; we could win a bond, but without BIJAN to help pay, the person would sit in detention regardless,” Pranzatelli says.

Anyone can be part of this big community effort: just donate to a bond fund near you. Because immigration judges are not required to consider a person’s ability to pay when setting bond, bonds – if granted – are often prohibitively high: ICE reports the average bond amount to be $5,760 as of April 2023.^[6] The average bond of the clinic’s clients this semester was $7,000. BIJAN’s Bond Fund helps pay these bonds, but as of May 2024, their funds were critically low. If you would like to support this vital program and noble mission – and be part of this beautiful community of clients and community partners in pursuit of a better future – please visit the Beyond Bond Fund to learn more and consider donating.

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[1] Garsd, Jasmine. “Immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born to Americans, study finds,” National Public Radio (March 8, 2024). www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1237103158/immigrants-are-less-likely-to-commit-crimes-than-us-born-americans-studies-find

[2] “Access to Counsel in Immigration Court.” American Immigration Council. www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/access_to_counsel_in_immigration_court.pdf

[3] “Locked Away: The Urgent Need for Immigration Detention Bond Reform.” National Immigrant Justice Center. https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/research-item/documents/2023-06/NIJC-Policy-Brief_ICE-Bond-Reform_May-2023.pdf

^[4] “Locked Away: The Urgent Need for Immigration Detention Bond Reform.” National Immigrant Justice Center. https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/research-item/documents/2023-06/NIJC-Policy-Brief_ICE-Bond-Reform_May-2023.pdf

^[5] “How Republicans Have Packed the Courts for Years.” TIME. https://time.com/6074707/republicans-courts-congress-mcconnell/

^[6] “Locked Away: The Urgent Need for Immigration Detention Bond Reform.” National Immigrant Justice Center. https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/content-type/research-item/documents/2023-06/NIJC-Policy-Brief_ICE-Bond-Reform_May-2023.pdf