Washington, DC – Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 and along party lines in the Nielsen v. Preap case that immigrants with a criminal record can be detained at anytime and are not required to provide such individuals with a bond hearing. Immigrants who have already been ordered removed are not subject to this decision. The American Civil Liberties Union litigated the class action lawsuit. One of the lead plaintiffs in the case was a Cambodian American named Mony Preap.
“The right to due process is a principle that is core to this country, and stripping that basic right away from immigrants, including Southeast Asian Americans who have already long served their time, is not just shameful and anti-American – it is wrong,” Quyen Dinh, executive director of SEARAC, said to AsAmNews. “We remain committed to fixing the injustices of our broken immigration system through holistic legislation, such as Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, and call on to Congress to work with impacted communities to right the failings of the Supreme Court.”
