The Legal Aid Society, along with Clearly Gottlieb, recently filed a lawsuit in SDNY challenging the ICE practice of arresting immigrants attending court. New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez filed a separate lawsuit in a coordinated effort.

Susan Cameron, Supervising Attorney in our Civil Law Reform Unit, spoke with NY1’s Inside City Hall and NY1 Noticias to discuss the filing.

“This lawsuit is important because this ICE practice has created a culture of widespread fear where immigrants are scared to attend court,” said Cameron. “Those accused of crimes, people testifying, those who need help for things like obtaining an order of protection, people in housing court who are facing eviction.”

“This case is very unique and unprecedented, where The Legal Aid Society, representing five community based organizations who serve the immigrant community in and around NY, together with an individual who has been deeply harmed by this policy, in conjunction with law enforcement—the Brooklyn DA and NYAG- we all agree on this… this is undermining our safety, it’s undermining the functioning of the courts and that’s not keeping us safer,” she continued.

Watch the full piece from NY1’s Inside City hall here and the full piece from NY1 Noticias here.