DHS stiffing NV legislators’ questions about what judge ruled ‘open defiance,’ state senator says

Representatives with the Department of Homeland Security scheduled to speak at a state legislative committee meeting Thursday notified lawmakers this week they “would not be appearing,” Democratic state Sen. Edgar Flores told Nevada Current. 

State lawmakers had hoped to ask about deportation and detention operations in Nevada, including recent judicial orders saying the federal agency was  in “open defiance” of a federal district court ruling by denying bond hearings.  

Lawmakers had reached out to federal immigration officials in recent months trying to get information about operations in the state. The agency didn’t give lawmakers a reason why they won’t attend as scheduled, Flores said. 

The decision not to appear comes as additional questions were raised this month when U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware of Nevada wrote in two separate orders that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was defying the court by unlawfully detaining people.

Between the two orders, Boulware has ordered the release of 17 people being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Center who had filed lawsuits against the federal agency. 

“It is extremely alarming that orders are being given by a judge, and that a federal agency doesn’t feel the need to abide by them,” said Flores, who chairs the interim committee.

Though unlikely, Flores noted the Department of Homeland Security could still decide to send a representative to the hearing to answer questions around deportation data and immigration bond hearings. 

A key component of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy has been the mandatory detention of undocumented residents, which immigration and civil rights attorneys across the country have warned deny people due process and violate federal law.  

Boulware struck down the policy in March, allowing detainees to petition the courts for bond hearings. 

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Seven people being detained at the Nevada Southern Detention Center initially filed a lawsuit following that order arguing they were denied an opportunity for a bail hearing and never received copies of their removal order.

In a ruling July 2 on the lawsuit, Boulware said the federal agency had defied the March court decisions writing that “the government is rebelling against the basic principle underlying our constitutional order.”

All seven plaintiffs were ordered to be released.

The decision is another example where a “government agency is so willfully and flagrantly violating the law while continuing to shout about law and order,” said Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada.

In an interview Wednesday, Haseebullah said it was likely “there will be additional orders that are coming out that are doing the same thing, because DHS does not appear that they’re willing to comply with the law.”

Federal judge stops immigrant detainees from being transferred out of Nevada

Boulware issued a separate order Wednesday once again saying the federal agency “refused to comply” with the March order. Another 10 plaintiffs filed a separate lawsuit alleging ICE was also denying bond hearings and yet again defying the March ruling. 

“Based on the record before it, the Court finds that Petitioners have been subjected to months of arbitrary detention in violation of their statutory and constitutional rights,” Boulware wrote in this week’s ruling. 

DHS didn’t respond to requests for comment. 

Haseebullah said he confirmed ICE had released seven people from detention this week as outlined by the July 2 order. 

The order, he noted, also specified that they should be released between noon and 3 p.m.

“The reason why he said he’s setting timing parameters is because of what we’ve gathered from a variety of other cases,” Haseebullah said. “ICE has been releasing people out of detention in the middle of the night with nowhere to go, with no resources, no transportation, and no ability to access anything at that point. That’s just another reminder of their cruelty that they’re engaging in.”

Prior to the recent July orders from Boulware, the judge had blocked 25 immigrant detainees from being transferred out of state as the ACLU of Nevada determines whether they received bond hearings prior to being detained. 

As deportations have ramped up in Nevada, there have been lingering questions about the tactics Homeland Security has deployed in its immigration enforcement.

The interim committee had planned to address some of the concerns and fears in the community, Flores said. 

“We’ve heard complaints where families have a difficult time finding their loved ones, that at times they’ll get arrested, and a day will pass by before they’re allowed to make a phone call,” he said. 

The committee was hoping to get insight on data, ask questions about ongoing agreements with state and local agencies, and “how many folk are presently being deployed in operations to arrest folk,” Flores said. 

“We’re obviously very disappointed” they won’t be attending, Flores said. “We are hoping that they could find alternative individuals to come up and answer general questions as to what is happening in Nevada and how they operate.”

The committee, he added, plans to invite them back for another meeting before “we as a state, decide what we want to do to have a more forceful conversation.”

“If the conversion isn’t possible to do now, then we will aim to do it later,” he said, adding “but that conversation must happen.”