HIAS Responds to Supreme Court Ruling on Immigration Detention

SILVER SPRING, Md.—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision in Jennings v. Rodriguez, overturning a lower court decision granting immigrants in prolonged detention the right to a hearing challenging their detention after six months. A federal appeals court will now consider whether the federal statutes in question are constitutional.

In response to the decision, Melanie Nezer, senior vice president for public affairs at HIAS, the global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees, issued the following statement:

“Today’s ruling gives the government a green light to lock up immigrants and asylum seekers indefinitely with no right to a hearing while their cases proceed, which can take years. This is an affront to our most fundamental American values of freedom and due process. HIAS and our supporters in the American Jewish community are hopeful the Ninth Circuit will remedy this serious injustice.”    

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