Court rules Los Angeles sheriff violated immigrants’ rights
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and immigration officials violated the rights of suspected immigrants who were detained after they should have been released from jail.
Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ruled Thursday in U.S. District Court that immigrants were held too long, denied bail or were locked up despite a lack of evidence.
The ruling came in a pair of class-action cases that were combined because they involve the use of immigration detainers issued by the federal government to hold suspected illegal immigrants up to 48 hours after they are to be released from jail so immigration agents can pick them up for deportation.
“It is an important precedent for the rest of the country where the law enforcement agencies are still honouring detainers,” said attorney Jennie Pasquarella of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.