Berkeley says “no” to federal immigration detainers | Berkeleyside

In a surprising twist, ask the Berkeley City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to decline requests from U.S. immigration officials to apply more stringent detention rules to arrested individuals depending on citizenship status. Advocates in attendance said the council made a landmark policy decision believed to be the most comprehensive and definitive in the nation as far as refusing altogether to cooperate with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program to detain and potentially deport non-citizens who are arrested. The decision will, health at least initially, mind have a limited impact given that the vast majority of these individuals ultimately are turned over to county agencies that do cooperate with the feds. Advocates said they believe, however, that the decision will have a ripple effect throughout the state to convince other jurisdictions to take a similar stand. The city has been working since last year to revise its policy

Los Angeles County sheriff’s office sued over immigration holds

Rights groups filed a class-action lawsuit on Friday against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, accusing it of unlawfully detaining immigrants at the behest of the federal government for days beyond when they should have been released. The suit highlights the detention of a British filmmaker and legal immigrant, Duncan Roy, who spent 89 days in jail because of an erroneous federal immigration hold that left him unable to post bail, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The lawsuit is the latest effort by rights groups to turn California into a so-called sanctuary state that protects unauthorized immigrants. That is in stark contrast to states such as Arizona that are engaged in crackdowns on illegal immigration which have sparked fears of racial profiling. An immigration hold is a request by the federal government that they would like someone to remain in custody so they can seek deportation.

Unprecedented Collaboration Between Georgia Law Enforcement and Federal Immigration Officials Prompts Lawsuit Demanding Transparency

    DHS and ICE violate Freedom of Information Act by failing to respond to six month old request.   Atlanta, GA –  October 24, 2012  Today the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and the ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The…

ICE Inmates in California Claim They Were Denied Bail

Tens of thousands of inmates who should have been eligible for release from sheriff’s custody allegedly remain detained for days or even months because of immigration-related holds. Such is the claim made by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California, which is now filing a federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. The ACLU said it will file the federal lawsuit Friday challenging Sheriff Baca’s ability to detain arrestees solely on the basis of an immigration hold when they are eligible for bail or other forms of release. Plaintiff Duncan Roy — a British film director — said he was held in jail for nearly three months because of a hold filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even though he tried multiple times to post bail. “The sheriff says, he’s on an ICE hold, and the ICE people say, well, he’s got to make bond,”