April 26, 2007

Lawsuit over ICE detained U.S. citizen (ACLU, Anna Werner, LCCR, Zoe Lofgren)

A small, perfect storm of illegal immigration supporters attempting to block enforcement of our immigration laws is forming [1]:

The ACLU and Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights will soon announce a suit in the case of Kevin Reyes, a U.S. citizen who was swept up with his father during an ICE raid early one morning in San Rafael, California. A San Francisco investigative reporter (Anna Werner) documented the boy's detention and located and interviewed the boy, his uncle and family friends, who described the boy as traumatized by his experience. Later, in a one-on-one interview about the case, Bay Area Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren described ICE's action in holding the boy in detention for a day as "illegal."

The main Werner report is here:

In a letter written just last week to Representative Lofgren, ICE assured her that before deporting a parent they give the parent an "opportunity to arrange appropriate care for the child" and that agents even could even release people arrested "on their own recognizance" if they "demonstrate childcare issues." ...CBS 5 Investigates asked Representative Lofgren if ICE's assurances in their letter were credible... "I have concerns," Lofgren said. "I have some concerns, and we plan to have a greater understanding of the situation than we do today."

While they indeed might have a point, this could be handled in other ways. As it is, this is yet another example of Lofgren (a former immigration lawyer), the ACLU, and the rest trying to tie ICE's hands in order to restrict immigration enforcement in general.

UPDATE: Tyche Hendricks offers "Child's civil rights were violated during immigration raid, lawsuit says". It appears his name is actually "Kebin". And:

"The father was arrested and there was no one to take care of the boy at home, so they had the boy come with his father," said ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley. "He went with his dad so he wouldn't be left home alone. We work with the families to find someone to take care of the child."

UPDATE 2: The same source offers the extremely biased "The human face of immigration raids in Bay Area/Arrests of parents can deeply traumatize children caught in the fray, experts argue":

[much deleted] ...Bay Area residents have said farewell to devoted parent volunteers, talented soccer coaches and close friends... [much deleted]

One of those mentioned is "Kevin Johnson, an immigration law specialist at the UC Davis School of Law", who's [1] below. Oddly enough, Hendricks completely fails to ask any of the parents what they were thinking to put their children in this situation. It's all our fault, for having those mean things called laws.

[1] lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2007/04/lawsuit_by_citi.html

Posted to Immigration2007a at April 26, 2007 12:48 PM