Thread: Federal Program Keeps Florida City Man Jailed

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IMMIGRATION
Federal program keeps Florida City man jailed.
A case in Miami federal court sheds light on a controversial program that links booking-center computers to Homeland Security databases.

ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@ElNuevoHerald.com
On the afternoon of July 31, as José Bernabé sat in his van waiting for his wife, two police officers outside his Florida City home arrested him for not having a driver's license.

Bernabé, 34, doesn't have a license because he is allegedly an undocumented immigrant after arriving from Mexico in 1999 and settling in south Miami-Dade where he works as a landscaper.

After the arrest, Bernabé was booked at a county jail and given bail. His family paid it, but Bernabé was not released because immigration authorities lodged a detainer, or hold, on him when they learned of his illegal status after being booked.

SECURE COMMUNITIES

Miami-Dade County jails are now linked to Homeland Security databases through a program called Secure Communities under which a suspect's fingerprints are forwarded to Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

Bernabé's case has landed in Miami federal court in a lawsuit that might fuel an emerging controversy over federal immigration detainers on foreign suspects in county jails. At issue: whether authorities are violating regulations that require immigration officials to take custody of a foreign national generally within 48 hours of a detainer being issued.

Bernabé's Miami attorney, John de León, sued Miami-Dade County jail officials for refusing to release his client even after immigration officials failed to take him into custody within the prescribed detainer deadline. In the end, Bernabé was held seven days beyond the detainer's expiration before ICE took him into custody, his attorney said.

On Friday, De León joined forces with Miami immigration attorney Ira Kurzban -- an authority on immigration law -- to monitor detainer cases and assemble a class-action lawsuit.

MORE FREQUENT

Detainer lawsuits are becoming more frequent as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expands Secure Communities across the country. As of June 29, jails in all of Florida's 67 counties are linked to Secure Communities.

ICE issues a detainer after foreign suspects are booked at county jails linked to Secure Communities. ICE says the system helps the agency quickly identify dangerous foreign criminals for possible deportation.

THE DETAINER

If ICE is interested in a suspect, the agency issues the detainer so the person cannot be released immediately even if given bond or charges are dropped. The detainer itself warns that federal regulations require that the foreign suspect be held ``for a period not to exceed 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays)'' to give ICE time to pick up the person. The 48-hour limit does not apply if the suspect is denied bail.

Typically, ICE issues a detainer within hours of a suspect being booked if the booking center is connected to Secure Communities. But ICE apparently doesn't always pick up suspects within the 48-hour deadline. Delays have spawned lawsuits around the country as more detained immigrants find themselves held on immigration detainers due to the spread of Secure Communities.

OTHER CASE

In Denver, Colo., the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado sued the Sheriff of Jefferson County in federal court after Luis Quezada of Mexico was held for 47 days in 2009 after immigration authorities issued a detainer.

In Bernabé's case, charges were not dropped but he was given bond, which his family paid, according to de León. Public records show he had a prior arrest by Homestead police on a domestic-violence charge. The case was not prosecuted and he has no record of conviction, according to his attorney.

Janelle Hall, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, declined to comment.

Temple Black, an ICE spokesman, said his agency could not release specific ``alien information'' without a signed waiver from the foreign national.

Originally Posted by swatchick

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/19/1782626/federal-program-keeps-florida.html?mi_pluck_action=comment_submitted&qwx q=3841474#Comments_Container


IMMIGRATION
Federal program keeps Florida City man jailed.
A case in Miami federal court sheds light on a controversial program that links booking-center computers to Homeland Security databases.

ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@ElNuevoHerald.com
On the afternoon of July 31, as José Bernabé sat in his van waiting for his wife, two police officers outside his Florida City home arrested him for not having a driver's license.

Bernabé, 34, doesn't have a license because he is allegedly an undocumented immigrant after arriving from Mexico in 1999 and settling in south Miami-Dade where he works as a landscaper.

After the arrest, Bernabé was booked at a county jail and given bail. His family paid it, but Bernabé was not released because immigration authorities lodged a detainer, or hold, on him when they learned of his illegal status after being booked.

SECURE COMMUNITIES

Miami-Dade County jails are now linked to Homeland Security databases through a program called Secure Communities under which a suspect's fingerprints are forwarded to Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

Bernabé's case has landed in Miami federal court in a lawsuit that might fuel an emerging controversy over federal immigration detainers on foreign suspects in county jails. At issue: whether authorities are violating regulations that require immigration officials to take custody of a foreign national generally within 48 hours of a detainer being issued.

Bernabé's Miami attorney, John de León, sued Miami-Dade County jail officials for refusing to release his client even after immigration officials failed to take him into custody within the prescribed detainer deadline. In the end, Bernabé was held seven days beyond the detainer's expiration before ICE took him into custody, his attorney said.

On Friday, De León joined forces with Miami immigration attorney Ira Kurzban -- an authority on immigration law -- to monitor detainer cases and assemble a class-action lawsuit.

MORE FREQUENT

Detainer lawsuits are becoming more frequent as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expands Secure Communities across the country. As of June 29, jails in all of Florida's 67 counties are linked to Secure Communities.

ICE issues a detainer after foreign suspects are booked at county jails linked to Secure Communities. ICE says the system helps the agency quickly identify dangerous foreign criminals for possible deportation.

THE DETAINER

If ICE is interested in a suspect, the agency issues the detainer so the person cannot be released immediately even if given bond or charges are dropped. The detainer itself warns that federal regulations require that the foreign suspect be held ``for a period not to exceed 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays)'' to give ICE time to pick up the person. The 48-hour limit does not apply if the suspect is denied bail.

Typically, ICE issues a detainer within hours of a suspect being booked if the booking center is connected to Secure Communities. But ICE apparently doesn't always pick up suspects within the 48-hour deadline. Delays have spawned lawsuits around the country as more detained immigrants find themselves held on immigration detainers due to the spread of Secure Communities.

OTHER CASE

In Denver, Colo., the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Colorado sued the Sheriff of Jefferson County in federal court after Luis Quezada of Mexico was held for 47 days in 2009 after immigration authorities issued a detainer.

In Bernabé's case, charges were not dropped but he was given bond, which his family paid, according to de León. Public records show he had a prior arrest by Homestead police on a domestic-violence charge. The case was not prosecuted and he has no record of conviction, according to his attorney.

Janelle Hall, spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, declined to comment.

Temple Black, an ICE spokesman, said his agency could not release specific ``alien information'' without a signed waiver from the foreign national.

good work ICE how the hell can they get a Driver;s License with out car Insurance I have show my Insurance . I hope they catch them all & ship them home get them the hell Out Of our country . THank for your Help
with to go Gov Jan Brewer & Joe & ICE

Those illegals are why our insurance rates are so high. In fact I have extra coverage as do many Floridians in case we get hit by an uninsured driver. This guy had a landscaping business and was driving without a license. There are alot of them in landscaping, construction jobs, and maintenance jobs who drive without a license. I looked up yesterdays arrests from Collier County as they give lots of information in their booking information and they had 3 or 4 they caught with a NVDL (no valid driver's license) and they all had contractor or remodelling jobs. I bet none of them pay income tax.