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Immigration lawyers accuse Vermont prisons of impeding their work
Access to immigration detainees dropped from 100% to 25% after new DOC commissioner enforced preexisting security policies, limiting attorney contact and device use, VAAP says.
- This fall, VAAP attorneys said access to immigration detainees at Vermont prisons has become harder since Jon Murad became interim Corrections Commissioner, citing language barriers and limited meeting space.
- Department officials say they enforced long-standing policies, with Murad denying accusations he aimed to impede legal work, asserting policies predate his tenure.
- In September the department stopped providing attorneys with detainees' alien registration numbers, and banning personal devices in late October led to VAAP attorneys relying on one shared landline, reducing meetings to 25% of detainees.
- A memo from legislators demands a memorandum of understanding between DOC and VAAP to guarantee cooperation as attorneys warn of 'irreparable harm' to vulnerable community members.
- In January the department evaluated interpretation services and began issuing interpretation tablets for attorneys, and Amanda Wheeler, Gov. Phil Scott's press secretary, said Scott stands by Murad and noted recent positive feedback from VAAP.
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Associated Press News+5 Reposted by 5 other sources
Immigration lawyers accuse Vermont prisons of impeding their work
Attorneys and volunteers with the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project used to go into Vermont’s prisons and meet with every immigration detainee, using their phones and computers for language interpretation, according to Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the organization.
·United States
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Total News Sources6
Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Center
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources are Center
67% Center
L 17%
C 67%
R 16%
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