Prof. Ana Pottratz Acosta Quoted by Mother Jones About Detainees Being Released Without Legal Documents

Professor Ana Pottratz Acosta, visiting assistant professor and director of the the Immigration & Human Rights Clinic of the James H. Binger Center for New Americans, was quoted by Mother Jones about immigrants being released from detention without documents proving their status. Despite showing documents proving active immigration cases, pending visas, or even U.S. citizenship, many who were arrested and detained for days or weeks are often later set free encountering a new challenge: ICE isn’t giving back their immigration documents. The widespread arrests and confiscation of documents has led some lawyers to change their advice to their clients. Prof. Pottratz Acosta said she used to tell clients to make sure to carry their immigration documents with them. Now, she tells them not to leave the house. She said, “Effectively, every time that somebody leaves their home, they’re rolling the dice.”