Florida Sheriff Detained US Citizen for ICE

MIAMI — On May 15, 2024, at 10 a.m., lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), ACLU and ACLU-FL will present arguments in support of their motion for partial summary judgment in Brown v. Ramsay, a federal lawsuit challenging the illegal detention of Peter Sean Brown, a U.S. citizen who was arrested and detained by the Monroe County, Fla. Sheriff’s Office at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

In April 2018, Mr. Brown was held in Florida’s Monroe County jail on an ICE immigration detainer, which had incorrectly identified Mr. Brown as a deportable Jamaican immigrant. The controversial practice of complying with “ICE detainers” asks state and local law enforcement agencies to re-arrest and detain individuals identified by ICE for up to 48 hours after their state cases have ended. ICE regularly issues detainer requests for U.S. citizens, and its databases are riddled with errors – making the decision to comply with an ICE detainer request risky for any state or local law enforcement agency. 

Despite Mr. Brown’s pleas to county authorities that he was a U.S. citizen and had records showing that he was born in Philadelphia, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office turned him over to ICE. Localities around the country hold people at ICE’s request even though several courts have found the practice to have violated the constitution.

WHO: 
Sarah Rich, senior supervising attorney, SPLC
Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU

WHEN:
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 10 a.m. ET

WHERE:
Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse, Room 11-3 
400 North Miami Avenue 
Miami, Florida 
 

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