Immigrants Arrested In Raid Appear In Court

Associated Press

June 14 2007, 5:25 PM EDT

Fifteen people arrested during recent immigration raids in New Haven will remain in federal custody while attorneys prepare to argue next week for lower bonds.

The 15, who appeared in federal immigration court Thursday, are among 31 people known to have been arrested during an immigration sweep of the city's largely Hispanic Fair Haven neighborhood last week.

They return to court June 20.

Their attorneys and law students from Yale and the University of Connecticut said Thursday they will highlight the detainees' community ties, family commitments and other factors showing they would be unlikely to flee if released on bond.

Equally important, the attorneys say, they want to present evidence to support claims that the raids were not properly conducted.

They say immigration agents entered homes without authorization, refused to identify themselves and detained people passing by on the street who "appear to have been singled out because of their appearance," said Michael Wishnie, a Yale law professor who is representing most of those arrested.

"Once they are out, we will litigate their cases fiercely," he said. "Families should absolutely have hope that we will be bringing these cases to final disposition and we will win."

Some of the people being held have been in the U.S. for up to 12 years, he said.

In addition to the 31 people known arrested, Wishnie said officials were told of an additional person who might have been detained. They have not been able to locate that person for an interview.

Most of the 15 people who appeared in court Thursday were held on $15,000 bonds, although two of them must post $25,000 bonds to be released.

One person is due to appear Friday in Hartford court, while four others already have posted $15,000 bonds and have returned to their families, awaiting their next court appearances.

Two women held in a Boston facility had their bonds reduced to $1,500 and $3,500 during a hearing Wednesday, and expected to post those bonds Thursday night, Wishnie said.

Four of the 31 people were picked up on warrants in which they are not eligible for bond and could be deported at any time, Wishnie said. The others are being held in facilities in Boston, Providence, R.I., Cumberland County, Maine, and Greenfield, Mass., he said.

The New Haven arrests came two days after the city approved a program to make municipal identification cards available to illegal immigrants.

City officials say the raids appeared to be retaliation for the ID cards, but federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials have said the raids had nothing to do with the city's approval of the program.

An ICE field officer said after the raids that officers had permission to enter the homes, that they acted professionally and that they did not engage in racial profiling.

That officer said the agency notified New Haven police weeks earlier - long before the city's action on the ID cards - that they planned to execute warrants, and that enforcement actions against illegal immigration will continue.

Supporters of the detainees rallied Thursday outside the Hartford courthouse. Groups of businesses, churches and community groups in greater New Haven also pledged to raise money to help meet the defendants' bonds and the needs of their families.

"At $15,000 each person, there's a lot of money to come up with," said Sahari Almonte, executive director of Junta for Progressive Action Inc. of New Haven.

Several city restaurants are giving 10 percent of Thursday's proceeds to a fund to help the detainees, their supporters said.

John Lugo, an organizer of Latinos in Action, said Thursday that many people in the Fair Haven neighborhood are still afraid and upset by the raids.

"It's really bad. If you go to Fair Haven, it's completely empty and people aren't going out," Lugo said. "I still get calls from people asking, 'Can I go out on the street now?"'

Federal law allows judges and federal immigration officials to set bonds as low as $1,500 per person in cases when someone is suspected to be in the country illegally.

Wishnie said attorneys believe that amount is more reasonable and fair than the $15,000 bonds, and that they will argue for the lower amount when they return to court June 20. They will make the same argument Friday for the one defendant scheduled to appear.

They also hope to be able to suppress any comments that the detainees made to agents after their arrests to prevent those statements from being used against them in court proceedings.

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