Federal public defenders are seeking to represent a Venezuelan man in his bid for release from immigration detention, a first in Vermont that could signal a boost in civil rights firepower for migrants ensnared in the deportation dragnet.
Federal public defenders typically represent people facing criminal charges, while a small group of private attorneys in Vermont have handled immigration detention petitions and visited state prisons to search for clients before ICE whisks them away.
Local immigration attorneys frequently win cases they bring. But they are “struggling to keep up” with ICE detentions, said Brett Stokes, who directs the Center for Justice Reform Clinic at the Vermont Law and Graduate School. Advocates say scores of Vermont migrants have been deported without having a chance to plead for their freedom.
Stokes said the federal public defender’s involvement in immigration habeas cases would be a “very welcome addition.”
The Office of the Federal Public Defender in Burlington filed the civil rights petition last Friday on behalf of Leonel David Torres Basanta, who is currently imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Torres Basanta’s petition largely mirrors the dozens of other habeas cases filed in Vermont since President Donald Trump launched his aggressive deportation policy. Torres Basanta contends that his indefinite civil detention — without a chance to argue for his release before an immigration judge — violates his constitutional right to due process.
While public defenders typically represent people in criminal court, federal law also allows them to represent plaintiffs who are challenging the legality of their detention if a judge decides that the “interests of justice so require.”
A judge has yet to rule on the public defender’s request to represent Torres Basanta. The Office of the Federal Public Defender declined to comment.
Nationwide, public defenders make up a very small but increasing portion of attorneys in immigration habeas cases, according to a recent analysis by Bloomberg News. Last week, a federal judge in Louisiana issued an order that provides taxpayer-funded legal counsel to anyone who challenges the legality of their detention at a large immigration detention camp in that state.
Immigrants detained in Vermont have filed more than 40 habeas petitions since Trump returned to office last year. Those included Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk and three people detained during a chaotic March 11 raid in South Burlington.
Torres Basanta fled Venezuela into the U.S. in 2021, the petition filed by assistant federal public defender Barclay Johnson states. He obtained temporary protected status and a work permit. But last year the Trump administration revoked temporary protected status for Venezuelans and immigrants from more than a dozen other countries, leaving them vulnerable to deportation.
The administration’s changes to the Temporary Protected Status program are the subject of ongoing court battles. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a key case on Wednesday.
Since Trump revoked his status, Torres Basanta — along with his wife and their U.S. citizen child — feared for their safety and sought to “temporarily leave” the country on April 17, according to his petition.
The petition provides few other details about his apprehension, stating only that ICE took him into custody on April 20 and that his wife and child are hospitalized in St. Albans.
Torres Basanta has no criminal record, Johnson wrote. He is detained at Northwest State Correctional Facility in Franklin County and would live in Florida if released.
A hearing on his petition is scheduled for Wednesday morning.
