Immigration Court Opens In Concord For Deportation Cases

CONCORD, CA — On Monday, a new immigration court opened in Concord's Monument Corridor, a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood in Contra Costa County. Fearful that the new court signals faster deportations without due process, immigrant rights groups rallied on the steps opening day.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) opened the new deportation court, where ten new courtrooms will hear immigration cases from the following counties: Contra Costa, Solano, Madera, Fresno, Inyo, Tulare, Kings, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Mariposa, according to advocates for immigrants.

Kimberly Galindo of the Contra Costa Immigrant Rights Alliance said the government didn't let community members or community organizations know that the new court was even going to be opening.

Advocates for immigrants reached out to their congressional representative with their concerns, Mark DeSaulnier.

"I am disappointed that this court has been moving forward with limited community and stakeholder engagement," DeSaulnier replied in an email. "I appreciate the need for Executive Office for Immigration Review, EOIR, to conduct its business, and hope that the opening of the court will turn over a new leaf of community coordination."

The announcement of the new court hasn't given people enough time to learn important information, such as that their court date has moved up, Galindo said. This could speed up their immigration review process and doesn't allow them enough time to seek attorney or any local services, she said.

Advocates for immigrants are also disturbed by the court's location.

"It's an area where immigrants feel at home, welcomed and safe," said Galindo, who questioned why such a court would open in that neighborhood. "(It) just kind of asks whether they're trying to change that feeling, that immigrants are welcomed here."

"The decision to establish this court, seemingly in secrecy and without community input or knowledge, has ignited apprehension among advocates for immigrant rights," reads a statement released by the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice on Monday. "EOIR has issued little to no notice of the cases transferred from the San Francisco jurisdiction to Contra Costa, raising significant due process concerns and sparking confusion among community members."

One of the groups represented at the rally was Stand Together Contra Costa, a non-profit organization that receives public funds to provide free legal services for immigrants within the county. The only requirement for their assistance is that immigration clients be residents of Contra Costa County.

Galindo said this raises concerns about people in neighboring counties, like Yolo, Alameda and Sonoma counties, where they may not have the same support programs.

The justice department is hiring 21 immigration judges for the Concord court. But for asylum seekers, finding legal representation is their own burden.

"Statistics show that immigrants that have an attorney win their cases over 60 percent of the time," said rally leader Alex Mensing, with the California Collaborative for Immigration Justice. "When they don't, that drops down to less than 20 percent."

Kathryn Mattingly of EOIR said the agency offers sources for noncitizens to help navigate their cases, including self-help materials, a help desk and other online resources. Outside legal practitioners can help noncitizens prepare documents.

"Many respondents do not obtain an attorney until at least the first hearing. As shown in our published statistics, most respondents (57%) are represented by the time they have had their first hearing," Mattingly said.

At the end of January 2024, over 3 million active cases were pending before immigration courts nationally, according to data in the Transactional Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The courts recorded receiving 844,333 new cases so far in 2024. Only 15.7% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, had an attorney to assist them in Immigration Court cases when a removal order was issued in January 2024. In California in 2023, there were a total of 182,013 case and 73,091 had representation.

Most immigrants in California are documented residents, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. In 2022, more than 54 percent of California's immigrants were naturalized U.S. citizens.

Getting immigrant's legal help was a central message in today's rally. The coalition includes Catholic Charities of the East Bay, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, Jewish Family Community Services, Monument Impact and the Asian Law Caucus among others.

On March 17, starting at 10 a.m., Stand Together Contra Costa and Faith in Action East Bay will have immigration attorneys offering free consultations at the Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord. Contact alba@fiaeastbay.org for more information.

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