Stanford Immigrants’ Rights Clinic Uncovers New Details about the Government’s Use of Ankle Monitors and Other Alternatives to Detention

The Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic filed a Freedom of Information Act Request on behalf of The Justice & Diversity Center of The Bar Association of San Francisco, Dolores Street Community Services, Community Legal Services of East Palo Alto, Pangea Legal Services, Legal Services for Children, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and Immigration Center for Women and Children. The lawsuit has begun to uncover records relating to the Department of Homeland Security’s use of ankle monitors and other Alternatives to Detention.

 

Press

NBC Universal Telemundo airs investigative report highlighting Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic’s advocacy relating to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s overuse of GPS ankle monitors.

Report highlights include:

  • Description of Stanford Immigrants’ Rights Clinic’s advocacy around the overuse of ankle monitors, including: the development of Know Your Rights materials advising and advocating for the removal of ankle monitors and the clinic’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit pending in the Northern District of California.
  • Interviews of noncitizens forced by ICE to wear GPS ankle monitors for extended periods of time.
  • Interview of local Bay-Area attorney, Bonita Gutierrez of Open Immigration Legal Services, describing her experiences advising clients who have ankle monitors and the lack of transparency around ankle monitor policies.
Lisa Weissman-Ward 2

We filed the lawsuit in order to uncover information about the government’s prolonged use of ankle monitors. The government has only shared only a small fraction of the documents, but these documents suggest that DHS has authorized expanded use of ankle monitors, which in many cases, cannot be removed until the immigration case is over. We remain committed to pursuing the litigation in order to uncover the rest of the policies.

–Lisa Weissman-Ward, Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, Attorney for Plaintiffs