WASHINGTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Federal immigration authorities are attempting to quickly deport an Arizona woman who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, in what her lawyers are calling the first test of a federal law holding that longtime immigrants cannot be removed until they\u2019ve had a chance to plead their case before a judge. <\/p>\n
Lawyers for Mirta Amarilis Co Tupul filed a lawsuit Saturday night in U.S. district court in Arizona and are seeking an emergency stop to Co Tupul\u2019s imminent deportation to Guatemala while the case plays out in court. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnly this administration would go this far,\u201d said Co Tupul\u2019s lead attorney, Chris Godshall-Bennet, \u201cbecause at the core of it is an underlying complete disrespect for the rule of law.\u201d <\/p>\n
Godshall-Bennet said the government\u2019s move against Co Tupul is just the latest of many illegal actions being attempted by the Trump administration in its effort to remove as many immigrants as possible. If Co Tupul\u2019s deportation is allowed to proceed, her defenders said, it could have wide implications for millions of other immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for many years and are at risk of deportation. <\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons and Phoenix ICE Field Office Director John Cantu. <\/p>\n
In a statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Co Tupul \u201chas not claimed or provided documentation to ICE that she lived in the U.S. for more than 2 years \u2014 let alone 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she can provide documentation to lCE law enforcement that she\u2019s lived in the U.S. for more than 2 years, ICE will of course follow the law and place her in normal removal proceedings,\u201d McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n
Co Tupul\u2019s lawyers said they provided extensive evidence of her longtime residence and were told she would remain in expedited removal proceedings anyway.<\/p>\n
Federal law<\/a> since 1996 allows the government to place immigrants in expedited removal proceedings if they have lived in the U.S. for under two years. The Trump administration appears to be using that law beyond its limits. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are going to start going around, grabbing people who have been here for decades and throwing them out without immigration court hearings,\u201d said Eric Lee, another of Co Tupul\u2019s attorneys. <\/p>\n Co Tupul\u2019s lawyers don\u2019t deny that she lacks legal status. At issue, they say, is how much due process she should receive. <\/p>\n Co Tupul, 38, entered the U.S. around 1996. She is a single mother of three U.S. citizens, ages 8, 16 and 18, and lives in Phoenix. <\/p>\n She was driving to work at a laundromat on July 22 when an officer wearing a green uniform \u2014 believed to be a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent \u2014 pulled her over and quickly asked about her immigration status. When Co Tupul declined to answer, the agent held her while he called ICE, who transported her to the Eloy Detention Center about 65 miles southeast of Phoenix. <\/p>\n Three days later, her attorney Mindy Butler-Christensen called Co Tupul\u2019s deportation officer, who explained that her client had been placed in expedited removal proceedings and would be removed within one to three weeks. <\/p>\n \u201cI asked the Deportation Officer to share with me why she would be placed in Expedited Removal,\u201d Butler-Christensen wrote in a sworn declaration. \u201cHe told me that this was a \u2018new policy\u2019 that ICE would be implementing with immigrants who have just had \u2018their first contact with ICE.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n He refused to provide documentation of the policy, she said. <\/p>\n Under regular deportation proceedings, immigrants are entitled to plead their case before an immigration judge, with rights to appeal. Because of significant court backlogs, that process can be drawn out for years. <\/p>\n