ImmigrationL.A. sued for detaining foreign nationals on “immigration holds”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a class-action lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) accusing it of illegally detaining people for days, weeks, or months after they should have been released. The reason for the continued detention is that those detained are subject to what is called “immigration hold”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a class-action lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) accusing it of illegally detaining people for days, weeks, or months after they should have been released. The reason for the continued detention is that those detained are subject to what is called “immigration hold.”
The LASD is being accused of two specific practices: detaining people beyond their release date on an immigration hold, and refusing to allow pretrial detainees to post bail. Xinhuanet reports that LASD has detained more people on immigration holds — to assist the U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement (ICE) with its deportation efforts — than any other county in the nation.
Immigration holds are requests from ICE asking LASD voluntarily to hold a person beyond their release date to wait for ICE to pick them up. LASD considers the requests mandatory and will hold a person for days after their release date, a practice which violates the U.S. Constitution and state law, according to the ACLU. Holds do not need a judge to sign off on them or probable cause.
The immigration detention numbers around the United States are high. In 2011 DHS held 429,000 immigrants in more than 250 facilities across the county. Even worse, the ACLU says, is the fact that most immigration holds are issued in error, so they are not effective. According to the ACLC, detention of immigrants is not necessary in most deportation cases.
The ACLU said the majority of people detained are survivors of torture, immigrants seeking asylum, families with small children, elderly citizens, and lawful permanent residents who are facing deportation due to old or minor crimes.
“Our Constitution guarantees that law enforcement cannot jail residents without probable cause to believe they’ve broken the law,” ACLU staff attorney Jennie Pasquarell said in a statement.
“But LASD holds thousands of people each year beyond their release dates, simply because ICE says they would like to investigate whether they may be removable. In this country, the government can’t lock someone in jail at the start of the investigation, it can only do so if investigates and finds good cause to do so,” Pasquarell added.
In a response to a pre-filing demand from the plaintiffs’ attorney, LASD recognized that individuals subject to ICE holds should be allowed to post bail, and the LASD says it is now working on revising its policy and data systems to accommodate the new approach.
