Immigration Raids Prompt Civil Rights Groups To File Lawsuit

CHAPARRAL, N.M. (AP) – A September series of immigration raids by local law enforcement prompted four civil rights groups to file federal lawsuits claiming that sheriff’s deputies have arrested and harassed Hispanic residents without warrants or probable cause.

The lawsuits filed Wednesday by the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Border Network for Human Rights and the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project allege that Otero County deputies launched illegal immigration raids in this town just outside El Paso, Texas.

The Associated Press reported in September that Otero County sheriff’s deputies were routinely demanding proof of citizenship from residents either in traffic stops or at their homes. More than a dozen people had been arrested and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol in August and September. Some were turned over right away; others were stopped for traffic violations the next day and were ushered to Border Patrol.

The suits claim the deputies sought out Hispanic immigrants under a federally funded effort aimed at curbing crime in border communities. Otero County received a grant under Operation Stonegarden, a federal program to help local agencies curb crime in border communities, Undersheriff Norbert Sanchez said in September. Chaparral is about 30 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A Border Patrol spokesman has said Operation Stonegarden grants are not to be used for immigration enforcement, but deputies can question the identity of a criminal suspect. David H. Urias, a MALDEF lawyer, said the September raids were a clear violation of residents’ due process rights and constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.

Norma Estrada, a U.S. citizen, said a deputy harassed her on Sept. 10, as two others stood by with their hands on their guns, after seeing her standing in her yard with her dog. When the dog got loose briefly, the deputy demanded to see her identification and then issued her a citation for a loose animal, she said. “I felt humiliated,” she said. Estrada, a married mother of three, said she was issued a $360 ticket for the loose dog violation.

Another resident who signed on to one of the lawsuits using a pseudonym said a deputy tried to enter her home before dawn on Sept. 10. When someone spotted him coming through a window into her house, the deputy backed out, and banged on the front door. When no one came to the door, the lawsuit said, another deputy began to yell, “Delivery! Mia’s Pizza!” When that didn’t bring anyone to the door, a deputy yelled, “Animal Control. Come outside!” The family stayed inside, the suit said, and a few minutes later, a deputy yelled, “Otero County Sheriff. Come outside!” One of the homeowner’s teenage children, a U.S. citizen, opened the door a few inches to speak to the deputies, and was told that their dog had bitten someone, a claim they denied. The deputies later barged into the home as the family stood outside. The family claimed the deputies ransacked their home, emptying bureau drawers and dumping the contents of the woman’s purse onto the bed.

Otero County Attorney Dan Bryan said he had only read the ACLU-sponsored suit Wednesday afternoon. “The county’s reaction is we will be looking into the allegations and investigating the facts,” Bryan told The AP. “We’ll find out what’s going on and respond accordingly.” Bryan said he forwarded the ACLU suit to the county’s insurance carrier. In September, Sanchez denied residents’ claims. “We don’t enforce immigration laws, we enforce county and state statutes,” Sanchez said. “We are not going down there targeting or profiling these people. We do the same operations in (other) parts of the county.” He acknowledged, however, asking for Social Security cards as a means of identification. Social Security cards are only work authorization documents, not identity cards, immigration law experts said. Other local police agencies, including the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, have been accused of using similar tactics in the past. In Panama City Beach, Fla., sheriff’s deputies formed an Illegal Alien Task Force whose patrol cars parked at construction sites in force and arrested any worker who ran away.

Fifteen people in New York, including seven U.S. citizens, are suing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, claiming it violated the Fourth Amendment during home raids there in 2006. Estrada said Wednesday she believes the only reason deputies stopped at her house on Sept. 10 “is because I am Mexican.” She said she’s not in fear of the deputies “because I know my rights. I ask questions.” But she is pressing forward with the lawsuit in hopes that the harassment stops.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)