On June 4, 2026, the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) presented “Habeas Corpus Practice in Immigration Detention – A Training for Lawyers,” a program addressing habeas litigation as a tool for challenging unlawful immigration detention. The program featured speakers Karen Lucas of Immigrant Advocate Response Collaborative (I-ARC), Kyle Barron of the New York University School of Law, and Shira Wisotsky from Legal Services of New Jersey (LSNJ). The event was organized by the AABANY Issues Committee and Immigration Law Committee and was cosponsored by the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens.
The presentation discussed the importance of habeas corpus as the federal government expands immigration detention. The program provided an overview of the statutory framework governing civil immigration detention and discussed the constitutional limits on civil detention, underscoring that immigration detention remains subject to procedural and substantive due process.
The program also reviewed common habeas claims in both pre-order and post-order detention contexts. These included statutory misclassification, unlawful revocation of release, due process challenges to prolonged mandatory detention, claims arising from statutory protections such as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and post-order detention challenges where removal is not reasonably foreseeable. Attendees received practical guidance on drafting a habeas petition.
Attendees had opportunities to participate in case studies throughout the program and ask questions, showing their passion, curiosity, and dedication.
The program concluded with an invitation for attorneys and volunteers to provide pro bono habeas representation by volunteering for I-ARC and the NYU Law Immigrant Rights Clinic’s NY Habeas Project and LSNJ’s Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative. AABANY thanks the speakers and organizers for providing this important training.
To learn more about the Issues Committee, go here. To learn more about the Immigration Law Committee, go here.
– Written by Vishal Chander, Board Member and Co-Chair of AABANY’s Issues Committee