A group of Minnesota lawyers schemed to shield their illegal alien clients from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, according to a series of leaked emails obtained by Fox News Digital.
The emails were sent on February 6 to the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ member email list, a member of the group told the news outlet.
‘Emails suggest that the sole reason for converting hearings into virtual appearances is to evade ICE enforcement.’
That same day, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) issued a formal legal opinion, claiming that state law prohibits “law enforcement agencies from holding someone based on an immigration detainer if the person would otherwise be released from custody.” Ellison noted that ICE’s detainers “are requests, not commands.”
An email string with the subject line “ICE at the PSF,” presumably referring to the Public Safety Facility, warned the attorneys that “plain clothes ICE officers have been spotted at Hennepin County PSF today.”
“Let’s do all we can to keep our clients safe in these difficult times,” the email read.
Fox News Digital reported that several attorneys in the group responded to the email suggesting that they request virtual hearings for illegal alien clients to evade court appearances where immigration officers may be present.
“Thanks for the update,” one individual wrote. “On that note, is there any concerted effort/judicial policy to switch to [Z]oom across the state?”
Ronnie Santana with Tamburino Law Group responded, “I was thinking we may want to have a conversation within the organization about pooling together [a]nd asking to convert hearings to [Z]oom for clients that we think would be targeted by ICE.”
JaneAnne Murray with Murray Law LLC replied, explaining that she had “called the court’s clerk and orally requested a [Z]oom appearance” for one of her clients, according to Fox News Digital.
“I explained the immigration circumstances and why I don’t want to lay them all out in a motion that may get reviewed by ICE. Shortly thereafter, I got an email authorizing my client to appear by [Z]oom (I must appear in person). Prosecutor was copied on the email but not consulted on the request,” Murray wrote.
Barry Cattadoris with the Third Judicial District Public Defender’s Office responded in the email string stating that certain judges had reached out to the “PD’s office,” presumably referring to the public defender’s office, “to state that they encourage [Z]oom requests on any cases with immigration issues for State or Defense in light of ICE showing up at courthouses.”
Cattadoris added that the requests “will be ‘liberally’ granted” and encouraged fellow attorneys to seek that option.
One lawyer recommended finding “a reason to request remote that doesn’t explicitly state immigration issues.” Another suggested that for cases that require an interpreter, attorneys argue that “interpreters are more effective” on video calls than in-person.
Alicia Granse, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, urged the lawyers to contact her if they have clients being held on ICE detainers.
“We might like to sue the crap out of them,” she wrote. “Previous cases we got good settlements for people.”
“We at ACLU-MN are interested in protecting people from their [ICE’s] presence at courthouses and at jails. At a minimum, no local official should be holding someone based simply on an ICE detainer—they need a judicial warrant based on probable cause,” Granse told the attorneys.
Legal expert Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital that the “emails suggest that the sole reason for converting hearings into virtual appearances is to evade ICE enforcement.” He predicted the correspondence would “raise a serious legal question over the proper use of court resources and orders.”
“There is a legitimate debate over whether ICE should target those seeking judicial review in their cases,” Turley continued. “Few immigrants will want to risk a hearing if they will be detained as a cost of appearing. However, if ICE has a right to access, the use of virtual hearings to prevent federal authorities could cross the Rubicon for some judges as an improper use of federal authority to deter federal enforcement.”
None of the attorneys quoted from the email string responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Following the media outlet’s inquiries, the MACDL sent an email to its members, stating, “The author(s) of the email(s) did not consent to having their statements or advice disseminated beyond our organization and are now being asked for comment for a story. We are angered and feel betrayed on behalf of the impacted people.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
News, Illegal immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Immigration, Minnesota, Keith ellison, Minnesota association of criminal defense lawyers, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Politics
