§ 10.3 Access to Oregon's Justice Systems: Availability of Civil and Criminal Court for Undocumented Immigrants

• Library: Rights of Foreign Nationals (OSBar) (2020 Ed.)

§ 10.3 ACCESS TO OREGON'S JUSTICE SYSTEMS: AVAILABILITY OF CIVIL AND CRIMINAL COURT FOR UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Many immigrants fear using civil courts or contacting law enforcement, even if they are experiencing serious abuse. They believe that by doing so, they will be referred to deportation proceedings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Yet civil courts are critical forums for crime and domestic-violence victims to seek restraining, divorce, and custody orders. To the author's present knowledge, ICE does not investigate civil court dockets to initiate deportation proceedings. Oregon's civil courts are available to...