The Florence & Eloy Models

Florence Justice and Efficiency Model - the founding model of the Florence Project - is a unique legal service system designed to provide access to justice for detained people. The Model conducts rights presentations, educates people on the court process, supplies “Know Your Rights” materials, and provides legal representation to adults detained in Florence for immigration purposes. In operation since 1989, this Model is congressionally recognized and nationally known.

Eloy Pro Se Model – established in 1998 and based on the Justice and Efficiency Model - stresses client empowerment, autonomy, and self-representation. It includes a screening of FIRRP’s “Know Your Rights” video; live rights presentations; guided pro se preparation, materials and workshops; and pro bono referrals. The Eloy Model received the 2001 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation.

» Due Process

Approximately ninety percent of individuals detained by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are unrepresented by legal counsel. There is no right to counsel, paid by the government, in immigration court removal (deportation) proceedings as there is in criminal proceedings. However, the outcome of a removal case may be even more severe and life changing than the possibility of criminal incarceration: return to a country where the individual faces persecution or torture, or loss of a lawful resident (green card) status for minor legal infractions.

Immigration law is a complex maze of legislation, agency regulations and policy, international law, and decisions from administrative courts as well as federal district courts and courts of appeal. The vast majority of individuals going through immigration court have had very little formal education, and many are illiterate. Therefore, many people – men, women and children - are deported with no understanding of the process, and no help with legal avenues to avoid deportation.

Issues

Right to Counsel: Although there is no right to counsel paid at government expense in removal proceedings, constitutionally there is a right to counsel. However, this right is meaningless for those individuals who cannot afford to pay for these services. When the primary wage earner of a family is detained, the family struggles to survive economically, and simply cannot spend thousands of dollars on a private attorney. Many of these family members are U.S. Citizens or permanent residents, so the deprivation of a fair “day in court” goes beyond just the individual in deportation proceedings.

A Fair Day in Court: There are many complicated legal issues regarding eligibility for persecution-based relief such as asylum, as well as discretionary forms of relief (pardons from the Judge). Many cases involve a weighing of the positive and negative factors in an individual's case. Without help framing the legal issues and positive factors, the primary impression of the Judge is that given by ICE's attorney. There are also constantly changing possibilities for legalization of an individual's legal status such as temporary protected status from certain countries, new visas such as the “T” visa for victims of trafficking in persons etc. In order to exercise the rights already available in any meaningful way, detained people need diligent, vocal advocates.

Criminal consequences of violation of immigration laws: Many people have no understanding of the drastic consequences of deportation, such as a 10 year, 20 year or lifetime bar to re-entry and exposure to the possibility of federal criminal charges for illegal reentry if the individual is deported and returns to rejoin family living in the United States . It is a common misconception that one can get deported and “fight the case” from the country one was deported to. In reality, it is infinitely more difficult, and often impossible to return to the United States once a Judge orders a person removed, making early and accurate legal assistance vital.

FIRRP's role

The Florence Project provides early and accurate legal information in the form of legal orientation presentations to individuals in Eloy, Florence , and the Southwest Key facility in Phoenix , Arizona . This enables clients to make informed decisions about their immigration cases. For individuals who continue to the final stages of a case, FIRRP provides at a minimum, assistance with documents and in-depth training on how to represent oneself in court. In many instances, staff attorneys provide representation in court and on appeal if necessary, all at no charge to the individual. FIRRP also advocates for its clients outside of court, with deportation officers and other staff at the detention facilities.

» Family Separation

Background

LPRs (legal permanent residents) are allowed by law to reside and work lawfully in the U.S. Many FIRRP clients are LPRs in deportation proceedings because they have been convicted of a criminal offense and are in jeopardy of losing their lawful status in this country. The convictions we see most often include domestic violence offenses, DUI, drug/ paraphernalia possession. Sometimes the conviction may have occurred many years ago when the client was a young adult. Many LPRs have been living in the U.S. for years where they have received their education, married, have children and work.

Issues

People detained by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are shuffled throughout detention centers all over the country because of overcrowding. Many people detained in Florence or Eloy are not residents of Arizona . The consequences of separation from their families often includes emotional isolation, depression, difficulties in obtaining evidence for a legal defense, and severe emotional and economic strain on family members. FIRRP works in a variety of creative ways to help clients and their families through immigration proceedings and with the consequences that follow their proceedings.

•  Long Distance Relationships: Because of the distance, FIRRP clients are not able to see their families while they are detained and while they fight their cases. Families may travel to Florence or Eloy to visit their detained family member and are turned away if they have not been listed on the visitation list. The phone systems in the detention centers are less than reliable and detained people must buy expensive phone cards if they hope to try to place a long-distance call. In the majority of cases, FIRRP staff is the only link that a person in detention has with his/her family.

• Effect on the legal case: In preparing a client's defense, it is difficult to coordinate cases where the sources of information and evidence are family members who live far away. In some cases, family members are unable to travel to testify in court. In support of their release, the FIRRP social worker helps clients find resources (shelter, counseling, drug/ alcohol rehab) in the client's primary state of residence. FIRRP staff maintains communication with family members to update them about court proceedings and to gather crucial documents.