First Step Act Credit

          In 2018, the First Step Act became law and through this law a person in the Bureau of Prisons can earn up to 15 days a month good time for participating in programs if they are eligible.

          Persons extradited to the United States are generally eligible for First Step Act credit as long as there are no disqualifiers. One of the biggest disqualifiers that the Government tries to push is that the person is eligible for removal after their sentence. However, pursuant to the Government’s own Justice Manual, persons extradited into the United States are required to be admitted under “parole for special purposes” and thus are eligible for FSA credit. The one issue is when they are in the Bureau of Prisons, ICE (immigration) will approach them at some point in their sentence and ask if they want to waive an immigration hearing. The answer should always be NO until after being released from the BOP. Signing the waiver will result in FSA credit being revoked.

          Additionally, most attorneys are told that an extradited person has an immigration detainer by the Government. What the Government is talking about is an I-247a which is a request to hold for immigration purposes filed by a law enforcement officer. It is not a detainer and ICE has even said it is not a detainer in several cases when it was to their advantage. So, do not let an attorney waive your detention hearing based upon the belief that there is an ICE hold because the case law simply says this is not true.

          If you have questions about detainers or FSA credit feel free to contact me.