NDLON’s legal department engages in strategic litigation and provides representation in individual removal cases to support NDLON’s ongoing campaigns, build organizing power, and defend immigrants’ rights.
Closed Cases:
Civil and Immigrants’ Rights
Puente v. Arpaio, Case No. 2:14-cv-01356 (D. Ariz.) (filed June 18, 2014)
Puente challenged former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s worksite raids, which turned immigrants into felons for working to provide for their families. The litigation was one part of a multi-pronged campaign to end the raids. On November 22, 2016, the Court held that key aspects of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Attorney’s Office practices were preempted by federal law. On October 25, 2017, the Court awarded Plaintiffs over one million dollars in attorneys fees.
Co-counsel: UC Irvine Immigrants Rights Clinic, ACLU of Arizona, Quarles and Brady, LLP, Hadsell Stormer & Renick LLP, Law Office of Ray A. Ybarra Maldonado, PLC
Valle del Sol v. Whiting, Case No. CV-10-01061 (D. Ariz.) (filed May 17, 2010 sub nom Friendly House v. Whiting)
Valle del Sol challenged Arizona’s unconstitutional racial profiling law, S.B. 1070. Ultimately, much of S.B. 1070 was enjoined in a separate lawsuit brought by the federal government. Among other things, the Valle del Sol litigation resulted in a permanent injunction against provisions of S.B. 1070 that made it a crime to solicit day labor. NDLON’s participation in the litigation was part of our campaign to Turn the Tide against anti-immigrant state laws and protect day laborers’ First Amendment right to seek work to provide for themselves and their families.
Co-counsel: ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, MALDEF, National Immigration Law Center, Others.
Flores v. Baldwin Park, Case No. BC560031 (filed October 8, 2014, Los Angeles Superior Court)
Filed on the anniversary of the TRUST Act’s passage, Flores sought damages for Baldwin Park father Sergio Flores who was unlawfully detained for three days by the Baldwin Park Police Department in violation of the TRUST Act and sent a message to localities that TRUST Act violations will not be tolerated. The case was ultimately settled when Baldwin Park agreed to pay compensation for Mr. Flores’ injuries and attorneys fees.
Co-counsel: MALDEF
Ucelo v. Tebb, Case No. 30-2012-00588416-CU-MC-CJC (filed August 3, 2012, Orange County Superior Court)
Ucelo sought damages for Jose Ucelo, a day laborer who was wrongly arrested and placed into removal proceedings after his employer falsely accused him of robbery. The case was ultimately settled when the employer agreed to pay compensation for Mr. Ucelo’s injuries.
Co-counsel: UCI Immigrants’ Rights Clinic
Freedom of Information Act and Public Records Cases
Asian Law Caucus v. ICE, Case No. 13-cv-01593 (N.D. Cal filed April 9, 2013)
ALC sought documents about ICE’s efforts to lobby Governor Brown to veto the TRUST Act. The case was settled when ICE provided responsive documents and agreed to pay attorneys’ fees.
Co-Counsel: UC Irvine Immigrants’ Rights Clinic
GLAHR v. ICE, Case No. 12-cv-03702-RWS (N.D. Georgia) (filed October 12, 2012)
GLAHR sought documents about police-ICE collaboration in Georgia. The case was settled when ICE provided responsive documents and agreed to pay attorneys’ fees.
Co-Counsel: ACLU of Georgia, NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic
Navarro Hernandez v. CBP, Case No. 10-cv-04602 (E.D. La.) (filed December 22, 2010)
Brought by Joaquin Navarro Hernandez, a reconstruction worker in New Orleans, following his arrest by Border Patrol at a day labor corner, this litigation sought documents about his arrest and about CBP’s surveillance of day laborers in New Orleans generally. The Court ordered CBP to disclose documents and awarded attorneys’ fees, recognizing that “Plaintiff has used the records disclosed as a result of this case…to facilitate public oversight of CBP’s enforcement of federal immigration law in the New Orleans area, both as it relates to his own case and in general.”
Co-Counsel: New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice
NDLON v. Baca, Case No. BS132593 (Superior Court, Los Angeles) (filed June 28, 2011)
NDLON v. Baca sought information about collaboration between the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and ICE as part of NDLON’s ongoing campaign against police-ICE collaboration in Los Angeles. The litigation resulted in the production of numerous documents and a court order rejecting the LASD’s contention that documents related to the 287(g) program were categorically exempt from disclosure under California’s Public Records Act.
Co-Counsel: Law Office of Sanjukta M. Paul