Federal Claims Filed Based on LA Immigration Raid

Dan Kowlaski on the “Just News” Blog ” reports that Peter Schey with the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law filed 114 federal claims for damages late Thursday on behalf of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were temporarily detained during a recent raid at Micro Solutions Enterprises in Van Nuys.

The claims are based on a raid in February in which armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents went into the company, blocked the exits and prevented all the employees from leaving while they carried out federal arrest warrants for eight people and a search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. According to the L.A. Times, Schey said immigration authorities treated U.S. citizens and green card holders like suspected criminals without any reason to believe they had broken the law. “That group detention is completely unconstitutional,” said Schey. “They have no individual probable cause, yet they come in like the Gestapo.” Immigration authorities said that the warrants were signed by a U.S. magistrate judge, and the search warrant was issued based on the “likelihood that evidence of criminal violations would be found at the location.” “The search was properly conducted in accordance with the warrant, federal rules of criminal procedure and ICE policies,” ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said in a written statement.

KJ