US
Govt preventing access to lawyers
Despite
Court Order, US Officials Won’t Allow Lawyers at Dulles to See Detainees
"Not going to happen," is the
message delivered to lawyers by a border agent.
Protestors rally
during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at Dulles
International Airport on January 28, 2017 in Sterling, VA. President Trump
signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents
from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. (Photo by
Riccardo Savi/Sipa via AP Images)
The US Customs and
Border Protection Agency at Dulles International Airport has refused to grant
attorneys access to any detainees it may be holding, according to Sharifa
Abbasi, who is coordinating
the volunteer lawyer efforts underway there. Yesterday, a federal judge
for the Eastern District of Virginia ordered respondents, who include CBP, President Trump, and the CBP Port Director for Dulles Wayne Biondi, to “permit lawyers access to all legal
permanent residents being detained at Dulles International Airport.”
Abbasi says late
Sunday morning a border agent told lawyers that agents have been instructed not
to speak with them. About 15 lawyers have been directed to call Steve Sapp, an official with the CBP Office of Public
Affairs, but have so far have not had their calls answered or returned. Washingtonian called the number, which directed
reporters to a cellphone number whose voicemail was full.
Abbasi and one other
lawyer we spoke to say officials at Dulles have refused to engage with the
lawyers since this morning. A border agent who agreed to bring the
lawyers’ request for access to detainees, as well as a copy of the order, to
her supervisor came back with this message: “It’s not going to happen.”
Lawyers at Dulles are
currently considering motions to hold the government in contempt and to
compel disclosure of any individuals who are being detained.
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