Joseph Meyers, ’20-’21 Justice Catalyst Fellow, Speaks Out Against Cuban Detention on RT Español
Joseph Meyers, a ’20-‘21 Justice Catalyst Fellow, denounced the treatment of Cuban migrants in detention centers on RT Español on March 16.
More than a thousand Cuban migrants are currently being detained by the United States’ Immigration and Customs Services, according to RT Español. Of those, approximately 680 had final orders of removal but were subject to prolonged detention in packed facilities. Meyers, a Justice Catalyst Fellow at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, worked with a team to advocate for those detained and spoke out against their treatment.
“Immigrants and detained Cuban refugees in the United States with deportation orders are in a political limbo,” Meyers says in Spanish to RT Español. “They can’t be deported, but the government refuses to release them. Thus, they can be deprived of their freedom indefinitely.” Meyers also expressed concern for migrant’s increased susceptibility to COVID-19 under these conditions.
Since the news story was released, Meyers and the National Immigration Project, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center, successfully secured the release of all of their petitioners and dismissed their case.
Joseph Meyers is a ‘20-‘21 Justice Catalyst Fellow at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. His fellowship project focuses on working with immigrant communities to challenge unconstitutional police practices at the border.
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