Earlier this month, our attorneys had an opportunity to participate in pro bono efforts, assisting detained women and children in Artesia, New Mexico, from the Denver Immigration Court.
Women and children refugees, fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, have been approaching the southern border, seeking refuge, in record numbers over the past several months. Most cross into the United States, and immediately seek Border Patrol officers and request asylum in the United States. They are arrested and taken into custody, and then transported to a “family detention center.” Many families were placed into a facility in Artesia, New Mexico, where their cases are being heard via videoconference by judges at the Denver Immigration Court.
The facility in Artesia, New Mexico, was closed just before Christmas, and its detainees were transferred to another family detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
Just before the transfer, attorneys from Kolko & Associates, P.C., gave up one of our mornings to spend helping secure bonds for these mothers and children to be released in time for the holidays. We spent our morning at the Denver Immigration Court, assisted by local volunteers on the ground in Artesia, arguing for the release of detainees. In all, we successfully obtained bonds for all 14 of the families who were scheduled for bond hearings that day.
It was a wonderful way to spend our day, providing pro bono legal services to help families be released from detention before the holidays.