Thread: Lawyers for day laborers attempt to shine light on DHS

http://www.newstimes.com/news/updates.php?id=1025044

Dec 14 2006 11:39 AM
Lawyers for day laborers attempt to shine light on DHS


DANBURY — A group of student lawyers from Yale announced at a news conference this morning that they will file a lawsuit today in federal court, demanding the Department of Homeland Security to disclose records of its involvement in the Sept. 19 arrests of 11 day laborers near Kennedy Park.


The lawsuit also demands the release of documents that describe DHS’s collaboration with the Danbury Police Department to enforce immigration laws.


The law students are part of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at the Yale Law School legal clinic.


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is a branch of DHS, arrived in Danbury on Sept. 19 at about 6:30 a.m. and rounded up 11 Ecuadorian men who were among the many at Kennedy Park waiting for jobs. ICE claims the men are in the United States without proper documentation.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connec ... tion_raid/

Yale students sue federal officials over immigration raid
By John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer | December 14, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --A group of Yale University students filed a lawsuit Thursday accusing federal officials of participating in a campaign to harass immigrants in Danbury.

The lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on behalf of several immigration advocacy groups, seeks records related to a sting operation in September that led to 11 arrests.

"We fear that the way in which the arrests took place may have violated the Constitution," said Simon Moshenberg, a Yale Law School student involved in the case.

The sting involved an undercover officer posing as a building contractor who drove to a day-laborer site in Danbury in search of workers to demolish a fence. The officer transported 11 men in an unmarked vehicle to the purported work site, where they were arrested, according to the lawsuit.

Lawful stings are supposed to be focused on specific suspects, Moshenberg said.

"It's another thing to roll up to a group of people who look Latino and just sort of cast the net and see if you catch any fish," Moshenberg said.

By responding to "discriminatory requests" from local officials for federal immigration enforcement, immigration officials have participated in a campaign by Danbury to target and harass Latino immigrants, the lawsuit contends.

Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of homeland security, said he had not seen the lawsuit. The agency focuses on specific violations based on intelligence, he said.

"Our enforcement actions are not random," Raimondi said. "We conduct targeted enforcements. We're committed to enforce the nation's immigration and customs laws vigorously."

Danbury has been transformed in recent years with waves of new immigrants from Brazil, Ecuador and other countries. The influx has strained schools, created overcrowded housing and led to other problems such as unlicensed and unregistered drivers, according to Mayor Mark Boughton.

The lawsuit accuses Boughton and Danbury police of targeting immigrant communities by discriminatory enforcement of city ordinances, such as housing code and vehicle registration regulations and shutting down neighborhood volleyball games. It also accuses the police of harassing day laborers at a city park and requesting federal assistance that led to the sting operation in apparent retaliation for using the park as a gathering spot.

Bought dismissed the allegations as "absolutely absurd."

"We apply those laws evenly across the board to all residents," Boughton said. "This complaint is just riddled with absurdities. There's nothing unconstitutional about city and federal governments working together."

Volleyball games involved hundreds of participants at all hours of the night and violated liquor codes and other laws, Boughton said. The mayor noted the city was not being sued.

"They can't substantiate any of those allegations," Boughton said. "They can't because if they could they would have already brought an action."

Moshenberg said the plaintiffs first want to see what the records show.

"If this lawsuit turns up evidence of constitutional violations on the part of either the city or the Department of Homeland Security, we'll proceed from there," Moshenberg said.