ICE must provide lawyer access for detainees in LA, federal district court rules

Courthouse News reports that a federal district court yesterday ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide lawyers with better access to detainees held in the basement of a downtown government building.

A Biden appointee, U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong issued a preliminary injunction requiring ICE to permit lawyers to visit the facility at least eight hours a day on weekdays and four hours a day on weekends. ICE also must provide rooms where the lawyers can privately meet with detainees. A Yale Law School graduate, Judge Frimpong clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt.

Previously, Judge Frimpong in the same case had issued a temporary restraining order barring ICE from apprehending people based only on their work, appearance, language or location unless there was a reasonable suspicion that they are in the country without proper authorization. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the U.S. government's request to stay that temporary restraining order, but the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and issued a stay.