Read our feature article “Only Those With the Courage To Fight Have the Courage To Win: Combat and Resist ICE Terror!” here.
Memphis immigration court abruptly moved up deportation hearings years ahead for over 3,000 immigrants a week since mid-September, the majority of whom are Venezuelan.
Most immigrants received letters in the mail notifying them of a new court date within one week of receiving the letter, and that if they miss the hearing they will be given a deportation order.
One immigrant in proceedings told The Worker, “A lot of people don’t know that their court [date] is now, they aren’t going to come on their court date, and they are going to send a deportation [order].”
The letters state that the hearings will be “removal proceedings” where individuals must defend their right to remain in the US before an immigration judge. During these proceedings, they face an attorney representing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who will present the government’s case for deportation. The letters do not explain the reason their court date has been moved up.
Courtrooms are filled to capacity as judges rapidly conduct “master calendar” hearings, where defendants are not given the opportunity to speak. Instead, judges briefly outline their legal rights before court staff assign them new hearing dates scheduled for the following week.
A cereal factory worker drove ten hours from Milwaukee to Memphis to make the court date, telling The Worker, “We spent a lot for gas and a hotel. We left last night after work and came straight here. We haven’t slept and we are leaving today. Now we need to come back next week. We’ve requested a time change but there hasn’t been an update. We leave tired from work, and now with this pressure that we don’t know what is going to happen next week, it’s very stressful.” Her court date was originally scheduled for late 2027.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the federal agency overseeing immigration courts, told monopoly outlet CBS News that it is prioritizing the completion of immigration cases and will “continue to make scheduling adjustments”.
Many Venezuelans The Worker interviewed spoke about the US criminal plunder of Venezuelan resources. One transmission plant worker shared, “The worst part is the situation in our country, Delcy [Rodríguez] is going to be worse. Nothing good is going to happen. The president here is robbing the gas.”
A Quanta manufacturing worker involved in organizing the factory told The Worker, “Now that the US feels like it dominates our country they want to send us back to be exploited even harder! We hold up the backbone of the US economy and they think that we are easily disposable. In Venezuela we’ve seen when workers have more power than the bosses. We have to show we won’t be intimidated and we won’t go without a fight! We must fight now or we will be exploited in Venezuela and have to fight there!”
Image: Notice of an in-person master calendar hearing. Credit: The Worker.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
