CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte immigration attorney is accusing local judges of breaking the law. Her lawsuit claims they are refusing to hold bond hearings for hundreds of people facing deportation.
One of Jordan Forsythe Greer’s clients is from Charlotte.
He has been in custody since November and has a bond hearing Monday before one of the judges referenced in the suit as always refusing to consider granting bond.
Greer said this is not about freeing defendants.
"We are not even moving for one particular person to be released,” Greer said. “All that we want is for the immigration judges to conduct the hearing that they are lawfully required" to conduct.
She and the American Immigration Council said the three of the four immigration judges in Charlotte are refusing to consider bond for people detained, often as the result of immigration crackdowns.
"They own property here. They pay taxes here. Their family is here," Greer said.
A representative for the American Immigration Council believes some judges are refusing bond to ease their case load.
She claims judges are under pressure from President Donald Trump to deport more undocumented immigrants.
If a Charlotte judge refuses bond and the defendant is eventually moved to another holding facility in another state, then judges in that state must handle the case.
"We need for the federal district court to step in and help us," Greer said.
She said having a bond hearing doesn't mean bond will be granted.
"You have to be able to show that you are not a flight risk and you are not a danger to society," Greer said about granting bond.
Greer said she and others have unsuccessfully tried other means to get the judges to hold bond hearings.
They felt they had no choice but to file a suit.
"This is our next step and hopefully the last one," Greer said.
The judges have not commented about the suit, but they will have to respond in court, along with several other people named in the suit.
Cox Media Group
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