No Fighting Chance: ICE's Denial of Access to Counsel in U.S. Immigration Detention Centers

Abstract

This ACLU research report provides the first comprehensive study of the barriers to access to counsel in U.S. immigration detention centers nationwide. Based on attorney surveys and calls to all immigration detention facilities nationwide, this report documents how ICE has systematically restricted the most basic modes of communication that detained people need to connect with legal counsel and the outside world. The report documents the many barriers that detained people face to communicate with counsel via telephone, video calls, mail, and in-person visits. It concludes with key recommendations for Congress and DHS to address these issues, and the crisis of detention more broadly