Advocates tell Vermont committee DOC practices block detainees' access to counsel, interpreters

MONTPELIER — On Jan. 14 the House Corrections & Institutions Committee heard testimony from legal advocates who said Department of Corrections practices are preventing immigrant detainees in Vermont facilities from getting timely access to lawyers, interpreters and medical care.

Hillary Rich, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Vermont, told the committee that while the ACLU is not currently calling for an immediate end to the state's contracts that allow federal marshals and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to place detainees in Vermont facilities, the state is "falling far short of its obligation to meet the basic needs and fulfill the fundamental rights of noncitizens in its custody." Rich cited barriers she described as both a failure to provide required language access and operational roadblocks that limit volunteer and low-cost attorneys' ability to reach clients.

"The DOC has been actively erecting barriers to prevent volunteer and low cost attorneys from providing legal representation to immigrant detainees in their facilities by restricting access to information and limiting attorneys' abilities to retain and speak with their clients," Rich said.

The Vermont Asylum…