Another Lawsuit over Immigration Detention

Four noncitizens have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Los Angeles alleging that U.S. officials detained them in violation of their constitutional rights in connection with the “war on terrorism.” LA Times writer H.G. Reza reports that:

Four Iranian brothers jailed more than three years as security threats and accused of supporting terrorists sued former Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller III and other officials Monday, charging that the government held them illegally as punishment for refusing to work as informants.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is the latest salvo in a drawn-out legal battle between the Mirmehdi brothers and the federal government, which accused them of having ties to a terrorist organization but charged them with violating immigration law and has failed in attempts to deport them to Iran. The brothers were released in 2005.

The full LA Times story is here. 

-jmc