Professor Cooper Talks to Christian Science Monitor About Lawmakers' Rights to Visit Detention Sites

Professor and Immigration Law Clinic Co-director Holly Cooper spoke to the Christian Science Monitor for a July 1 story that starts with a visit by President Donald Trump to controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site in Florida. The story addresses how efforts to hold more detainees under Trump’s mass deportation plans raise questions about how many new detention facilities will open and what the long-term effect of such projects will be.

The Monitor mentioned the May arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after a confrontation with a federal agent while trying to inspect a newly reopened U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility with a group of fellow New Jersey Democratic officials.  Charges were dropped, but Rep. LaMonica McIver subsequently was indicted for allegedly striking federal officials at the scene. The congresswoman has called the proceedings “political intimidation.”

“It’s enormously important to be able to provide short-notice visits to facilities to be able to capture the actual human rights violations that are occurring,” Cooper told the Monitor. “Because with notice comes cleanup, comes transferring of people.”

Professor Holly S. Cooper has extensive litigation experience defending the rights of immigrants and is a nationally recognized expert on immigration detention issues and on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions.