Thread: NJ--'A nightmare for our family'

'A nightmare for our family'

By ELIZABETH LLORENTE, SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS | 05/30/08 02:01 AM


Ana Galindo and Walter Chavez have joined a statewide lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. The legal U.S. residents say agents raided their Paterson home last month in a search for illegal immigrants. (Photos by elizabeth lara/Herald News)



Ana Galindo and Walter Chavez have joined a statewide lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security. The legal U.S. residents say agents raided their Paterson home last month in a search for illegal immigrants. (Photos by elizabeth lara/Herald News)
An immigrant couple, here legally, and their U.S.-born son have joined a statewide lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security after their Paterson home was raided last month by federal agents looking for illegal immigrants.

Walter Chavez and his wife, Ana Galindo, said Thursday that on April 2, agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, forced their way into their home, pointing guns at Galindo and their child.

"It was a nightmare for our family, and continues to be even today," said Galindo, 42. "The very worst part of it all was when an agent, who screamed at me the entire time, drew his gun when my son came out of his bedroom. I thought I would lose my son, my only son. I yelled to him, 'Come to me and stay still here.'"

The couple says the agents -- seven of whom entered their home while others stayed outside -- violated their constitutional rights and traumatized their son, 9-year-old Walter.

The original lawsuit included 10 plaintiffs and was filed in April in U.S. District Court in Newark by the Seton Hall University Center for Social Justice and the Roseland law firm Lowenstein Sandler PC.

The complaint -- one of a growing number of suits around the country challenging ICE raids at private residences -- maintains that immigration agents routinely force their way into homes using deception and intimidation. It says the agents often enter without judicial warrants or consent of the homeowners.

ICE spokesman Michael Gilhooly said the agency does not comment on pending litigation, and added: "The agency holds all officers and agents to the highest standards of law enforcement and ethics."

Court papers say that ICE agents forced Chavez, 44, out of his car outside his Chamberlain Avenue home about 7:30 a.m. as he began to leave for work. The agents shoved him toward the door of the residence, demanding to see his wife, the complaint says.

"We thought it was the Paterson police, and we couldn't understand why they were here," Galindo said. "We're hard-working, have our papers and are devoted to raising our son."

Once inside, the complaint says, agents yelled at Galindo, demanding to see evidence that she and her husband were in the United States legally. An agent drew his weapon when the couple's son emerged from his bedroom, then put it away, Galindo said, apparently after realizing that the target was a child.

The couple said the agents never identified themselves, nor explained why they had singled them out. Galindo said she realized they were immigration officers after she saw "ICE" on the clothing of the agent who aimed the gun at her son.

Galindo said that even after she showed the agents green cards for herself and her husband, and her son's U.S. passport, they continued to interrogate her, asking her where she was hiding illegal immigrants.

"I told them the only people who live in this house are myself, my husband and my son," she said.

The agents, the suit says, at one point had a conversation that indicated they had targeted the wrong woman, yet remained there for about 45 minutes, asking the couple where they were employed and if they paid their income taxes.

The agents threatened to take the boy away from them if they harbored illegal immigrants, Galindo said, and before leaving, warned: "We're going to come back. And next time it will be worse."

Reach Elizabeth Llorente at llorente@northjersey.com

http://www.myheraldnews.com/view.html?t ... b_id=35756

THERE MUST BE MORE TO THIS STORY THAN IS TOLD HERE. CONVENIENTLY ABSENT FROM THIS STORY IS AN INTERVIEW WITH ICE ASKING WHY THEY CHOSE THIS RESIDENCE AND WHY THEY THOUGHT ILLEGALS WERE THERE.

I think it is time for someone to locate that older article where Chertoff made his plans clear.

He said he was going to do some hard enforcement because the American public would not like it if he did take action.

Can someone find us that article please and PM me when you do.

It is clear that Chertoff is trying to make enforcement fail because he did not get what he wanted out of Congress last year.

W

Every raid should be on video then we would know who is telling the truth.The videos should not be for public viewing but could be used by the DHS in court to prove they are innocent of misconduct.

Originally Posted by USPatriot

Every raid should be on video then we would know who is telling the truth.The videos should not be for public viewing but could be used by the DHS in court to prove they are innocent of misconduct.

I've been saying for a long time that, almost without exception, law enforcement video tapes their operations. In this day and age, they really would be foolish not to and I find it hard to believe that ICE, especially, would not be documenting every move they make.

And, of all the suits filed against ICE, how many have we heard of being settled in favor of the plaintiffs?