Atlanta group gets grant to help detainees

Catholic Charities of Atlanta has received a $175,000 contract to provide legal help to Latin American citizens held at a detention center in Stewart County. The Vera Institute of Justice and the Executive Office for Immigration Review approved the contract for a legal orientation program at the privately run Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. The center houses 1,800 Latin American immigrants. Some of the detainees have criminal records while others were picked up in employment raids around the country. The new contract will allow Catholic Charities to put a full-time attorney, a part-time law student and a part-time clerk at the facility to provide legal help and referrals for detainees.

(The Associated Press)