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Despite mass shutdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, the wheels of justice keep turning in federal immigration courts in New York — over the objections of furious lawyers.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services courts have canceled mass status conferences, but other proceedings, including trials, are continuing uninterrupted.
The insistence on maintaining business infuriated immigration lawyers, who claim the system is taking an unnecessary risk in the face of guidelines by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to scrap gatherings of 50 people or more.
“This policy is reckless and it directly contradicts the CDC,” said Long Island attorney Bryan Johnson. “These aren’t life-or-death hearings.”
Asylum interviews and green-card applications are also still on, and while they may not be “life or death,” the high stakes can incentivize applicants to lie about brushes with the bug, some lawyers say.
“People are terrified to miss their interviews,” said Paul O’Dwyer, a Manhattan immigration attorney. “No one knows where anyone has been. They’re relying on an honor system.”
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