RIGHT SPEAK: ILLEGALS Advocacy and Civil-Rights Groups File Suit against the U.S. to Slow Down Deportations

A coalition of immigrant advocacy and civil-rights groups has sued the federal government over an expedited deportation process implemented for women and children detained at a New Mexico facility.

The American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and National Immigration Law Center filed the lawsuit on Friday in district court in Washington, D.C., on behalf of several migrants. The suit alleges, among other claims, that women at the Artesia Detention Center have been unable to contact attorneys and that often cases are heard in front of their children.

According to the complaint, the fast-tracking of deportations sends mothers and children back to their home countries "to face serious harm without a meaningful opportunity to present their claims for asylum."

In the complaint, the groups allege that many women and children with credible-fear claims—the first step toward winning asylum—have been ordered deported. The complaint said, so far, 38% of the families detained at Artesia had passed that step, compared with a national average of 77% "under pre-existing procedures."

As the U.S. experiences a recent, unprecedented wave of families entering the country illegally, many of the migrants, hailing largely from Central America, are seeking refuge from gang violence, rape and death threats in their home countries.

The ACLU said migrants housed at the Artesia detention center, which holds up to 672 adults and children, are being denied a fair hearing and proper legal representation.