Florida Sheriff Worked With ICE to Illegally Jail and Nearly Deport US Citizen
Peter Sean Brown is a U.S. citizen who lives in the Florida Keys. He was born in Philadelphia and has lived in Florida for 10 years. Before this year, he had never heard of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
That changed abruptly in April, when the Monroe County Sheriff鈥檚 Office held him in jail so that ICE could try to deport him 鈥� even though he鈥檚 a U.S. citizen. The 老澳门开奖结果, the 老澳门开奖结果 of Florida, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP filed a lawsuit today against the sheriff鈥檚 office for violating Peter鈥檚 Fourth Amendment rights. His experience 鈥� being locked in jail away from his family, friends, and job to facilitate an illegal deportation 鈥� is a stark example of what can go wrong when local law enforcement does ICE鈥檚 bidding.
The saga began when Peter reported to the Monroe County Sheriff鈥檚 office for violating probation with a low-level, marijuana-related offense. Instead of quickly releasing him, the Monroe County Sheriff鈥檚 Office told Peter that they were keeping him locked up to facilitate his deportation. ICE had faxed a request, known as a 鈥渄etainer,鈥� asking the sheriff to lock Peter up, so it could deport him to Jamaica.
%3Ciframe%20allow%3D%22accelerometer%3B%20autoplay%3B%20encrypted-media%3B%20gyroscope%3B%20picture-in-picture%22%20allowfullscreen%3D%22%22%20frameborder%3D%220%22%20height%3D%22315%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F7gOWs0O1gGI%3Fautoplay%3D1%26version%3D3%22%20thumb%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aclu.org%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fweb18-peterbrown-560x315.jpg%22%20width%3D%22560%22%3E%3C%2Fiframe%3E
Privacy statement. This embed will serve content from youtube.com.
Peter was terrified. He knew almost nothing about Jamaica, having only visited the country once on a cruise. And yet Monroe County jail officers told him he was being sent to a Jamaican prison.
Peter started frantically telling jail officers he was a U.S. citizen and asked to show them his birth certificate. He filed multiple written grievances. He called ICE, but no one ever answered the phone. His manager at work called the jail attesting to Peter鈥檚 citizenship.
Jail officers ignored him entirely. None of them helped him cancel the detainer or even looked into his claims, even though the jail鈥檚 own records listed Peter as a U.S. citizen. Many officers even mocked him, telling him in a Jamaican accent that everything was 鈥済onna be alright.鈥� Officers sang him the theme song to the TV show the Fresh Prince of Bel Air鈥斺�淲est Philadelphia born and raised鈥濃�攁fter he repeatedly told them he was from Philadelphia and had no ties to Jamaica.
The officers told Peter that their practice was to hold everyone that ICE asks for, no matter what. In fact, the sheriff himself his enthusiastic support for ICE鈥檚 deportation policies in a press conference earlier this year. Following his lead, his officers told Peter that it didn鈥檛 matter what evidence Peter had. If ICE wanted to deport him, they would oblige.
After Peter filed a second written complaint, the sheriff鈥檚 office made clear it was holding him regardless. Its written response read, 鈥淚t is not up to us to determine the validity of the ICE hold. That is between you, your attorney and ICE.鈥�
This nightmare lasted for weeks, until the moment finally came when the sheriff did turn him over to ICE. Peter was taken to an ICE facility in Miami. He was days from being put on a plane when ICE finally agreed to look at his birth certificate. When ICE realized Peter was, in fact, a U.S. citizen, the agency quickly released him, leaving him in Miami without even offering transportation home to Key West.
Peter鈥檚 frightening story should make sheriffs and police chiefs think twice before agreeing to hold people for ICE. In recent years, ICE has asked local jails to hold hundreds (if not thousands) of U.S. citizens for deportation. Each one probably felt the same panic as Peter. this troubling pattern of targeting U.S. citizens with ICE detainers.
By facilitating these efforts, local sheriffs are putting themselves on the hook for enormous financial liability. Dozens of them have faced costly litigation and been forced to pay six-figure settlements because of their collaboration with ICE. Monroe County is just the latest in a long of counties that have violated people鈥檚 rights at ICE鈥檚 request. And ICE does not reimburse any of these expenses.
Funneling people to ICE also facilitates an ever-more-arbitrary deportation system. The Trump administration is targeting people who have lived in the United States for decades, sometimes their entire lives. It has parents off the street in front of their children, protections for people who grew up here, and status away from people who fled wars and natural disasters 30 years ago. Just like Peter, their families, homes, and careers are in the United States. The of deporting them is hard to overstate.
Sheriffs do not have to abet these efforts. They all have a choice. They can focus on solving crimes and serving the needs of their own communities. Or they can spend scarce time and jail space responding to ICE鈥檚 detention requests, and face whatever financial consequences may result.
Peter鈥檚 story should prompt the Monroe County Sheriff鈥檚 Office to reconsider its choice to join ICE鈥檚 runaway deportation force. It should also serve as a warning to other law enforcement to stay out of the deportation business. It鈥檚 simply not worth the financial and human cost.
