Thread: Arkansas: Lawsuit Targets Immigration Hold

Lawsuit Targets Immigration Hold

This article was published on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 7:53 PM CST in News
By THE MORNING NEWS

Email this story Print this story Comment on this story FAYETTEVILLE -- A Rogers attorney has sued the state and the Benton County Sheriff's Office claiming there's no basis for the jail to continue holding his client for federal immigration officials after he paid bond on state charges.

Amilcar DeJesus Lopez-Santos was arrested Feb. 4 in Gentry for driving without a driver's license, leaving the scene of a property damage collision and careless and prohibited driving. He paid $3,000 bail late Friday afternoon, but as of Tuesday morning, was still being held in jail, according to Ken Swindle, the attorney who filed the suit.

Swindle said jail personnel told him the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement had a "hold" on Lopez-Santos and referred Swindle to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, according to the federal lawsuit. Swindle said he asked jailers for, but was not shown, documentation or authority for the hold. Swindle insists there is no authority under federal law for an indefinite hold.

There is a provision under which a state agency can hold a person for no more than 48 hours but it requires an immigration officer to issue a detainer document, according to Swindle.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fayetteville, seeks Lopez-Santos' immediate release from jail. It argues his continued incarceration in the Benton County Jail, after posting bond for the charges on which he was arrested, is a violation of his Constitutional rights.

Benton County Attorney Robin Green said Tuesday she has not seen the lawsuit. Green said she was not comfortable commenting on the case until after she's had a chance to familiarize herself with the lawsuit.

Attorneys Milton DeJesus and E.J. Reyes also represent Lopez-Santos.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/ ... nshold.txt

Oh how I wish I had seen this a few hours ago, I was at the comittee of 13 meeting and would have loved to ask Robin about this when it was over.

Amilcar DeJesus Lopez-Santos was arrested Feb. 4 in Gentry for driving without a driver's license, leaving the scene of a property damage collision and careless and prohibited driving. He paid $3,000 bail late Friday afternoon, but as of Tuesday morning, was still being held in jail, according to Ken Swindle, the attorney who filed the suit.

ICE hold and lawyer suing under Constitutional rights. What country's constitution?

What a name for an attorney---Swindle---- hahahahahaha

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power."
Franklin D. Roosevelt