LA CRIMINAL DETENTION PROGRAM

Esperanza offers legal education and information to non-citizen inmates at two Los Angeles County Jails in downtown Los Angeles: Men's Central Jail and the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.  Though only twice a week, the Esperanza criminal detention team gives a class on immigration law to individuals who have identified themselves to the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department as having been born in a country other than the United States.  Not all immigrants at the facilities we serve with receive our classes due to segregation rules and the fast transfer of detainees between facilities.  

Large Group Legal Rights Classes that teaches:

• The differences between the criminal justice system and the immigration system;
• The sequence of events a person in criminal detention can expect after having an immigration (ICE) hold placed on him or her;
• The significance of pleading guilty to a crime, and the duties of Public Defenders;
• The most common criminal convictions that have immigration consequences;
• The legal requirements necessary to qualify for an immigration bond (however, very, very few people qualify for bond under current law); and
• The requirements of different types of legal claims that would qualify a person to stay lawfully in the United States.

Individual Legal Orientations:

After almost every large group legal rights class, Esperanza staff meet with as many detainees individually as possible.  We continue our teaching and explaining of the law, explain the consequences of alternative choices in the immigration process, and answering questions about the law.