Maine ACLU seeks $5 million in damages for wrongfully detained immigrants

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is seeking a total of more than $5 million from the federal government on behalf of three Maine residents it says were wrongfully detained.

The five administrative claims filed by the local affiliate Wednesday are among 54 others filed in 17 states and Washington, D.C., under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to seek financial compensation for harm caused by federal employees. The claims were filed with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Maine claims stem from the large-scale immigration enforcement operation in January known as Operation Catch of the Day, during which roughly 200 people — the vast majority of whom were lawfully present in the U.S. — were detained.

“We’re participating in this … in part to get accountability for all of those individuals, but also to shed light on the widespread abuses that ICE is doing all over the country,” said Samuel Crankshaw, spokesperson for the Maine ACLU.  “And not just during big surges like Operation Catch of the Day, but happening on a daily basis, pretty much everywhere.”

The Maine ACLU filed five claims arising from three arrests during the operation. Three of the claims involve members of the same family, while the other two involve individual immigrants. All three people have since been released from federal detention, though the ACLU said they continue to live with the effects of the incident.

Whether the claims will result in compensation remains unclear. Federal agencies have six months to investigate an administrative claim and may choose to settle it or claimants can file a civil suit in federal court.

“The long-term trends are that the intent of that process under the law has not worked as well as it should,” Crankshaw said. “No matter what the outcome of the administrative complaint may be, it’s a required first step to get any kind of accountability.”

What the claims say

The first case involved an asylum seeker, who the ACLU identified as Mr. Diallo,who was detained while driving home with his family. The ACLU filed three separate claims on behalf of everyone in the car, Crankshaw said.

Years prior, Diallo had been detained and released. Despite complying with all conditions of release, ICE agents this winter stopped his car and detained him without a warrant, the ACLU said. During the stop, agents broke the driver’s side window, spraying broken glass over the entire family, including a baby, the claim reports. Diallo was detained for three weeks until he was able to obtain an attorney, who filed a successful challenge to his detention. 

Another of the claims is on behalf of  an immigrant who on Jan. 22 was dragged from his car after agents smashed his window. The civil rights organization did not disclose the identity of this person.

The third case involves Elias Tesfaye, who was taken from his home by masked agents on Jan. 20. Tesfaye had previously been in ICE custody but was released in 2013 and has been living and working in Maine for over a decade, where according to the ACLU he complied with all the terms of his release. Tesfaye was held in a detention facility for a month, during which he developed PTSD, had a panic attack, and was prescribed Prozac that he is still taking. After Tesfaye secured a lawyer, the government did not attempt to justify his arrest, releasing Tesfaye without responding to the legal challenge, the civil rights agency said.

A separate lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of a Portland man in U.S. District Court rests on protections in the Maine Civil Rights Act — another approach the organization is taking to seek justice for wrongfully detained immigrants. The ACLU couldn’t confirm or deny if the same person was involved in one of the tort claims.

New laws limit ICE enforcement

Even after the end of the January enforcement surge, federal immigration agents have maintained a presence in Maine. Two weeks ago, 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed by federal immigration agents in Biddeford, prompting renewed calls to investigate ICE operations, demand accountability and place additional limits on how and where agents can operate.

Several new Maine laws took effect Wednesday that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. One restricts local law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration authorities, another prohibits landlords from sharing certain tenant information, and a third allows employees at certain schools and healthcare facilities to deny immigration agents access to nonpublic areas without a judicial warrant.

“These laws and the claims we’re bringing demonstrate our commitment to do everything possible to stop the ICE violence and chaos that led to the shocking killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero this month in Biddeford,” said ACLU of Maine Executive Director Molly Curren Rowles in a statement.

“Congress has refused to rein in ICE, but if the federal government won’t protect people in Maine, then Mainers will continue to take action and protect one another – just as we always have.”