Public Counsel reposted this
Very proud of the team at Hecker Fink LLP helping to bring this important case.
Southern California residents, workers, and advocacy groups have sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in federal court for abducting and disappearing community members using unlawful stop and arrest practices and confining individuals at a federal building in illegal conditions while denying them access to attorneys. The suit alleges that DHS has unconstitutionally arrested and detained people in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration. Since June 6, the federal government has unleashed immigration agents onto the streets, worksites, and neighborhoods of Los Angeles and surrounding counties, creating a siege and immigration dragnet over the region. The suit notes, “one of the clearest patterns that have emerged in the raids in Southern California […] has been stops and interrogations […] on the basis of apparent race and ethnicity.” Agents have been abducting individuals en masse and taking them to the basement of a federal building in downtown L.A., commonly referred to as “B-18,” which lacks beds, showers, or medical facilities. The facility was designed to hold a small number of people temporarily so they can be processed and released, or processed and transported to a long-term detention facility. The ongoing raids have led to the disappearance of more than 1,500 people. The suit details how federal agents consistently refuse to identify themselves or what agency they are with when asked, using anonymity as a tactic to shield lawlessness. The suit was brought by five workers and the Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers Of America (UFW), CHIRLA, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center. The plaintiffs are represented by Public Counsel, ACLU SoCal, Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin, UC Irvine School of Law Immigrant and Racial Justice Solidarity Clinic, NDLON National Day Laborer Organizing Network, ACLU of Northern California and ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, Hecker Fink LLP, Martinez Aguilasocho Law, Inc., CHIRLA, and Immigrant Defenders Law Center.
