ACLU Sues Federal Government Over Mentally Disabled Immigrant Detainees

by Sarah Gonzalez for KPBS, view original article

August 10, 2010

The ACLU in San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of immigrant detainees with mental disabilities. The civil liberties group wants court-appointed attorneys for those who can't represent themselves.

Immigration court isn't like criminal court. Non-citizens in immigration detention centers do not have a right to a court-appointed attorney.

That means they have to represent themselves in their deportation proceedings, even the detainees with mental illnesses.

Read the rest of this article at: http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/aug/10/aclu-sues-federal-government-over-menatlly-disbale/