Thread: TN: Immigrants' suit could be costly (Sheriff, Maury County)

Sunday, 07/15/07

Immigrants' suit could be costly
Lawyers say Maury, U.S. may face 6-digit figure for damages, fees

By COLBY SLEDGE
Staff Writer

Columbia resident Heather Ufelton thinks it's more than a little ridiculous that Latino illegal immigration suspects are suing the Maury County Sheriff's Office and the federal government for arresting them in their homes.

"I think it's retarded that illegal immigrants can sit there and sue when they're not even American citizens," said Ufelton, a manager at Scot Market on Nashville Highway, where she said many customers are Hispanic. "But I guess this is America, and you can sue anybody."

As it turns out, Midstate lawyers say the 11 immigrants who filed suit last week not only have the right to sue, they may actually have a case that could end up costing Maury County and the federal government hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages and legal fees.

Rights questioned

The plaintiffs were arrested July 3 after Maury County deputies and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials raided a Columbia mobile home park looking for a man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl.

While searching for the suspect, officers went to several homes and arrested 18 people they said were in the country illegally. Maury County Sheriff Enoch George said residents pointed the officers to the homes during the pursuit.

"Every time they would go one place and he wouldn't be there, (the residents) would say, 'He might be at another place,' " George said.

The immigrants, who remain in federal custody, allege in the lawsuit that agents entered their homes without search warrants, violating their rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"Constitutional rights are your baseline: They're your bare minimum rights," said Nashville immigration lawyer Philip Perez, who is not affiliated with the lawsuit. "States cannot reduce constitutionally granted rights."

Constitutional rights have previously been upheld for illegal immigrants: In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas could not withhold state school funds from children who were not in the country legally.

In its ruling of Plyler v. Doe, the high court held that the children were protected under the law by the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, and that the protection "extends to anyone, citizen or stranger."

Searches under scrutiny

Under federal law, immigration officers cannot enter a house unless they have a warrant or the permission of someone in the house.

Federal immigration spokesman Temple Black said he could not comment on pending litigation, but he said the deputies and agents could enter a house if they had reason to believe the suspect was inside.

That would not have applied in this instance, said Williamson County attorney John D. Schwalb, because the officers did not witness the man enter the home. Schwalb is not involved in the case.

"If that's the situation, you knock on the … door and you place officers at the back doors" while awaiting a warrant, Schwalb said. "Somebody better have seen someone enter one of the other trailers."

Even if the Constitution's protection did not extend to illegal immigrants, the officers would not have known whether the people inside were in the country legally, said lawyer Ernie Williams, a former U.S. attorney in Nashville.

"At that moment in time, (federal agents) don't know if these people in the trailer are legal or not," said Williams, now a criminal defense attorney in Franklin. "The proper thing to do would be to make sure nobody leaves until they get search warrants."

Payout could be huge

In addition to seeking an end to future warrantless searches and seizures of illegal immigrants, the lawsuit asks for $100 for each day that each immigrant is incarcerated.

All of the immigrants are being held without bond, but Nashville attorney Elliott Ozment, who represents the plaintiffs, said he was working to get the court to reconsider and set bond amounts.

"Once they make bond, they're free to come back and continue to live as they were living," Ozment said. That process could take two weeks.

Even then, each plaintiff could be required to come up with roughly $6,500 in bond money, Ozment said, though he plans to appeal if the bonds are set that high.

Case could take years

Battling such cases in federal court has been known to take years. If the immigrants remain in jail just through the end of 2007, and the judge agrees to award the requested damages, each immigrant would receive approximately $18,000.

That amount could rise as the plaintiffs' lawyers square off with Maury County and the federal government over payment of legal fees.

"Most of the time they make plaintiff attorneys work hard for the fees," Ozment said. "I anticipate that if this drags on, that could be an issue."

http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pb ... 291/MTCN01

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Seems to me the patriot act would come into play they use it for everything else. Or again does this only apply to U.S. taxpayers?

The immigrants, who remain in federal custody, allege in the lawsuit that agents entered their homes without search warrants, violating their rights under the U.S. Constitution.

Illegals entered the US ILLEGALLY WHICH IS OUR HOUSE, at what point does this madness end?