October 17 (Reuters) – A group of non-U.S. citizens detained at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, has requested a federal judge to mandate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provide access to virtual hearings for their criminal cases in New Jersey.
On Wednesday, the detainees filed a request with U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order against a policy that prohibits technology use for virtual court appearances at the facility. They argue that this policy prevents them from effectively defending against pending criminal charges in New Jersey state court.
The detainees have reported missing crucial hearings, facing bench warrants, and experiencing prolonged detention due to the lack of virtual court access.
ICE representatives have not responded to requests for comment regarding the filing.
The motion is part of a proposed class action lawsuit initiated in September, addressing the policy’s impact on hundreds of detainees at the Moshannon facility, which is the largest ICE detention center in the Northeast, housing over 1,000 detainees since 2022.
The lawsuit represents detainees with criminal charges in New Jersey and is supported by the Immigrant Rights Program of the American Friends Service Committee, which assists many detainees in their immigration cases. It seeks a court order allowing detainees to appear virtually or in-person for criminal, civil, and municipal court hearings.
According to the lawsuit, many detainees were arrested by ICE after being released by judges or law enforcement following criminal charges in New Jersey state courts.
Raquiba Huq, an attorney from Legal Services of New Jersey representing the detainees, stated that ICE has detained her clients due to their New Jersey criminal charges while denying them access to the courts, which extends their detention.
The lawsuit also asserts that while ICE permits detainees to use platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams for immigration-related virtual hearings, it does not allow the same for criminal cases.
This issue is particularly significant in New Jersey, where many state courts rely on virtual hearings for most cases. The lawsuit claims that detainees must obtain a writ from a New Jersey court to secure an in-person hearing, which complicates the process. Many detainees have not yet had the opportunity to secure legal representation, making it difficult to obtain the necessary writ.
The case is identified as Josefina Doe et al v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al, under case number 2:24-cv-09105 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
For the proposed class, legal representation includes Gavin Rooney, Alexander Shalom, Natalie Kraner, Naomi Barrowclough, Anish Patel, and Ruth Zimmerman from Lowenstein Sandler; Shira Wisotsky, Raquiba Huq, Zoe Burke, and Emily Thornton from Legal Services of New Jersey; and Tiffany Lieu and Philip Torrey from the Crimmigration Clinic at Harvard Immigration & Refugee Clinical Program.
The Department of Homeland Security is represented by Kevin Hirst, Jordan Hummel, Hana Shatila, and Daniel Schutrum-Boward from the U.S. Department of Justice.
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