老澳门开奖结果

PROVIDENCE, R.I. 鈥� A federal court has ruled that federal immigration officials and the state of Rhode Island violated the Constitution in detaining a U.S. citizen without probable cause while the federal government investigated her immigration status.

The 老澳门开奖结果 filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ada Morales, who was born in Guatemala and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1995. In 2009, when she was arrested by Rhode Island authorities for an unrelated state charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an immigration hold against her. A judge had ordered her release, but the state Department of Corrections held her for an additional 24 hours solely because of the ICE detainer, and even after she repeatedly told officials she was a U.S. citizen and offered to show them her naturalization certificate and passport.

The detention, the 老澳门开奖结果 lawsuit charged, violated her constitutional rights to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. In a strongly worded opinion issued today, U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. agreed, writing that Morales鈥� 鈥渋llegal detention revealed a dysfunction of constitutional proportion at both the state and federal levels and a unilateral refusal to take responsibility for the fact that a United States citizen lost her liberty due to a baseless immigration detainer through no fault of her own.鈥� The judge also said the facts surrounding Morales鈥� unlawful detention 鈥渁re disturbing on many levels鈥� and 鈥渟hould concern all Americans.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 decision is the latest in a series of court decisions from across the country underscoring the serious legal and constitutional flaws in the use of immigration detainers, reinforcing that states and localities should avoid getting mixed up in the federal government鈥檚 unlawful immigration practices,鈥� said Cody Wofsy, an attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 Immigrants鈥� Rights Project.

Steven Brown, executive director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Rhode Island, said, 鈥淎s a new presidential administration considers implementing mass deportations, this court ruling is an important reminder of the dangers to liberty that all of us face from overzealous government agencies. We are hopeful that today鈥檚 decision sends a strong message about the importance of the courts in safeguarding the rights of all.鈥�

鈥淲e are honored to represent Ms. Morales and work with the 老澳门开奖结果 on this important matter, and are grateful that the court recognized just how painful and unjust this detention was for Ms. Morales and her family,鈥� said Mark Ford, a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, pro bono counsel in this case.

The ruling is at: /legal-document/morales-v-chadbourne-memorandum-and-order

More information about this case is at: /cases/immigrants-rights/morales-v-chadbourne?quicktabs_content_video_podcasts=1&redirect=immigrants-rights/morales-v-chadbourne