From [HERE] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Director David Drasin refused an immigration attorney’s demand to meet with men seized from the streets of Bend, Oregon, and held on a bus for hours as protesters tried to block the bus from moving, according to a new lawsuit.

Federal agents in unmarked white vans rounded up two men on Wednesday and held them in a Bend parking lot. But before the vans could depart, a crowd of hundreds gathered to demand the men’s release. Hours of protest followed.

The families of the men watched as their fathers and husbands were held in vans with closed windows in 80-degree weather. They released a statement, which was read by Janet Llerandi-Gonzalez of Mecca Bend, according to plaintiff Innovation Law Lab.

“Consider the emotional trauma being inflicted not only on us as adults, but also on our children who witness this injustice,” Llerandi-Gonzalez read. “We are hard-working members of the community that have lost our jobs due to Covid, and our husbands are put at risk daily. We are simply trying to provide for our families, but because of the color of our skin and because of our country of origin that does not justify what has happened here today.” 

Bend City Councilor Barb Campbell blocked the unmarked vans with her parked car.

“I am here because people are being picked off the streets and detained for the crime of wanting to work hard,” Campbell told reporters, according to a statement from Innovation Law Lab. “These are good people who have immigrated to our country. We are right now trying to empty our jails and our prisons because they could be hotspots for Covid-19. The idea of my taxpayer money going toward harassing these individuals is intolerable.”

Volunteer immigration attorney Erin Carter arrived and tried to speak to the two men through the closed windows of the vans.

“Tell them I want a lawyer,” one man, identified in the lawsuit as J.A.C.S., told Carter.

Another immigration attorney standing nearby, Micaela Guthrie, told an ICE officer there that she wanted to speak with the two men. But the officer wouldn’t respond to Guthrie’s request.

Steven Manning, executive director of Innovation Law Lab, a pro bono immigration firm, called Drasin. Manning asked to speak to the two men before they were transferred out of Oregon. But Drasin denied the request and told Manning that ICE would move the men to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, without first letting them speak to attorneys, according to the lawsuit filed late Wednesday night in federal court. There, they will be “functionally denied any meaningful opportunity” to consult attorneys, according to the complaint. It states,

“The government’s denial of attorney access to clients and prospective clients in the Central Oregon raid will causes serious irreparable harm to the detained individuals. Unlike in criminal proceedings, individuals in immigration proceedings are not generally entitled to appointed counsel if they cannot afford one. See generally CJLG v. Sessions, 880 F.3d 1122, 1128 (9th Cir. 2018). Because attorneys are not automatically provided by the government, immigration detainees seeking representation must contact a private attorney to retain them or rely on a patchwork of legal service providers who provide “know your rights” trainings and, in some cases, pro bono representation.

By denying attorney access, the federal government has effectively prevented detainees from obtaining any legal assistance from Plaintiff Law Lab’s attorneys, who have already agreed to represent them in their immigration proceedings.”

Innovation Law Lab wants U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut, to whom the case has been assigned, to prevent the men from being transferred out of Oregon for at least 48 hours and allow the firm’s attorneys to consult with the men before their immigration cases move forward.

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel weighed in about the incident and ensuing protest via Twitter late on Wednesday night.

“I’ve never been so disgusted by my government, and so proud of my community,” Hummel wrote.

The lawsuit was filed by Stephen Manning, Nadia Dahab and Jordan Cunnings with the Innovation Law Lab in Portland.