Oregon immigrant advocates ask court for class action status in suit against feds

The two Oregon nonprofits that sued federal immigration agencies last month have added another plaintiff to their suit and are asking the court to stop federal agencies from blocking all people detained in Oregon from access to their lawyers. 

The Clear Clinic, a Portland-based legal nonprofit, and Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Oregon’s largest Latino labor union, sued the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the ICE field office in Seattle, as well as the leaders of each agency, in October alleging they are purposefully denying people in detention centers access to their lawyers before transferring them from Oregon to facilities in Washington, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. 

The groups argue that under the U.S. Constitution, all detained people regardless of their immigration status have the right to speak with a lawyer before getting transferred. 

The groups amended their complaint on Wednesday, adding plaintiff Leon X, a 32-year-old resident of Oregon who came to the United States from Mexico when he was 6 years old. He grew up in Oregon’s farmworker community, and he is using a pseudonym in court documents to protect the details of his own immigration case, according to the filing. 

The plaintiffs’ lawyers argue Leon X represents a class of people who have been detained by ICE or are at risk of arrest for alleged civil immigration violations in the District of Oregon. He and the other plaintiffs are asking the court to stop federal immigration authorities from blocking him, and others who might be detained by ICE, from meeting with an attorney.

Innovation Law Lab Director of Legal Advocacy Tess Hellgren said plaintiffs are asking the court to require that federal immigration authorities give detainees access to their lawyers before they are transferred out of the District of Oregon. Innovation Law Lab is a nonprofit law firm representing the plaintiffs. 

“Meaningful access to counsel requires notice, time and space to actually consult with attorneys,” Hellgren said.

Immigration authorities detained more than 300 people in Oregon in October, and there have been at least 150 detentions in November so far, according to Innovation Law Lab.

Attorneys at Innovation Law Lab have filed 13 habeas corpus petitions since June. These are court orders forcing law enforcement authorities to justify a person’s continued detention. Many of those detained have been freed from ICE detention under these petitions, including people who were detained outside their immigration hearings, a wildland firefighter who was detained while working at a remote and active fire and a wreath maker detained on her way to work, according to Innovation Law Lab. 

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed since President Donald Trump took office a second time, including 45 suits that the state of Oregon is a part of challenging his executive orders that cut federal funding historically meant for states, attempt to remove birthright citizenship and impose tariffs. 

This lawsuit is one of at least 72 suits that has been filed against the Trump administration for its immigration enforcement policies, according to the Associated Press’ lawsuit tracker.