Support Litigation to Free Palestinians Facing Indefinite Immigration Detention
Background
Across the United States, an untold number of stateless Palestinian individuals are languishing in immigration detention. Their detention is effectively indefinite because the government cannot identify a country to which it can deport them given their lack of citizenship in any country. Nevertheless, the government has detained them in deplorable conditions, even though many have lived in the United States for year.
Our Clients
Our client is a 22-year-old Palestinian man who entered the United States weeks before the events of October 7, 2023, and the initiation of the genocide in Palestine.
He was arrested on DATE and has been detained in Texas for 16 months. While in detention, he was interrogated by the FBI about his family in Palestine. After refusing to become an informant, he was taken out of the detention facility’s general population and placed in a high-security unit where detainees with serious criminal records are incarcerated.
While he’s been in detention, the Israeli military has devastated his family, ransacking their home, beating his father and brother, and murdering his 12-year-old cousin.
In June, the government attempted to deport him to an unknown country without honoring his right (enshrined in international and U.S. law) to express fear that he would be killed or persecuted in that country.
The Need
Many immigration detainees cannot afford to hire attorneys to file lawsuits (called petitions for writs of habeas corpus) aimed at securing their release. Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP has been retained by two detained Palestinians who have given us permission to tell their stories in the hopes that we can raise funds to fight their cases in federal court and raise awareness about detained Palestinians everywhere.
How You Can Help
Our client’s situation is urgent and requires immediate legal intervention. Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP is committed to fighting the government’s effort to detain our client indefinitely. He has been detained for more than half of his adult life and every day he remains in custody is an affront to his dignity and to human rights law.
We need your help to protect our client’s rights. Every donation helps to defray legal expenses and ensure that he can fight his unlawful, indefinite detention.
Disclaimer
Contributing to our client’s legal fees by means of this crowdfunding effort does not constitute a tax-deductible donation, nor does it entitle you to any control over the case or to any information about the case beyond that which is made public. Our client will be informed of the name and amount of contribution of each donor. Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP will close this crowdfunding effort and will not allow any further contributions at the time the legal defense is fully funded. If the representation of Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP is terminated for any reason under the retainer agreement prior to expending the full amount of contributions, Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP will endeavor to refund unearned funds to the credit card numbers provided, on a last-in, first-out basis. Donations will be placed into Lee & Godshall-Bennett LLP’s client trust account, to be billed down on a regular basis as attorneys perform work on this case.