Brooklyn Defender Services (“BDS”) submits this public comment in strong opposition to the proposed five-year, $23.2 million contract award to Securus Technologies LLC for the Person-in-Custody Communication System at New York City Department of Correction facilities. For the reasons set forth herein, BDS urges DOC to cancel the proposed award and calls on the Comptroller not to certify the contract. If approved, the contract would entrench a mass surveillance system that records calls, captures voiceprints, maps relationships, and exposes deeply personal data from people in custody and their loved ones to ongoing constitutional violations, risks to privileged communications, and potential sharing with law enforcement systems, including federal immigration enforcement. The proposed award would further endanger immigrant New Yorkers, undermine the city’s sanctuary laws, and deepen the harm already caused by a vendor with a documented record of data privacy violations and unlawful surveillance.

Brooklyn Defender Services told the City Council that New York must strengthen its sanctuary protections as immigrant New Yorkers face rising risks of detention, deportation, and family separation. In testimony before the Committee on Immigration, BDS warned that unlawful information-sharing, weak agency training, and expansive city data systems can funnel people into federal immigration enforcement even when local law is supposed to protect them. “The city cannot adequately protect New Yorkers, or uphold the detainer discretion laws, without upholding the requirement that ICE present a judicial warrant in interactions with City agencies about an individual for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement,” said Sophie Dalsimer Associate Director, New York Immigrant Family Unity Project. BDS urged the Council to close gaps in the detainer law, improve agency compliance, limit sensitive data collection, and pass the NYC Trust Act so New Yorkers harmed by violations can hold the city accountable.

Brooklyn Defender Services joined immigrant rights organizations in a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump-Vance administration rule that would have gutted meaningful review at the Board of Immigration Appeals and sharply increased the risk of wrongful deportations. A federal court has now blocked key parts of that rule, preserving immigrants’ ability to appeal removal decisions before they are deported. The challenged rule would have slashed the deadline to file most appeals from 30 days to 10 and made summary dismissals far easier, threatening due process for people fighting to remain with their families and communities. “Today’s ruling preserves a vital avenue for judicial review in removal proceedings,” said Lucas Marquez, Director of Civil Rights & Law Reform at Brooklyn Defender Services.

Brooklyn Defender Services joined the Family Justice Law Center, the Center for Family Representation, the NYU Family Defense Clinic, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and others to file a federal class action lawsuit challenging unconstitutional delays in New York’s process for appealing listings on the State’s child abuse and maltreatment registry. Thousands of parents are forced to wait more than a year to clear their names even though most ultimately succeed, while being blocked from jobs in health care, education, and child care and prevented from caring for relatives. “As public defenders, we see firsthand the harm a parent’s SCR indicated report can have on a family—from a parent losing a long-standing job, to reduced employment opportunities and the inability to be a family support system for loved ones in crisis,” said Lauren Shapiro, Managing Director of the Family Defense Practice. “New York families deserve a fair and timely process when they seek to appeal their inclusion on the SCR.”