Lawsuit Challenges Government's Withholding of Documents Concerning Pre-Dawn Immigration...

Lawsuit Challenges Government's Withholding of Documents Concerning Pre-Dawn
Immigration Home Raids in New Jersey
Concern over intimidating tactics, privacy violations

NEWARK, N.J., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seton Hall Law School's
Center for Social Justice (CSJ) and the Brazilian Voice filed suit today in
federal court under the Freedom of Information Act (the FOIA) to compel the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release documents regarding its
practice of executing pre-dawn, warrantless raids of immigrants' homes
throughout the state of New Jersey. http://law.shu.edu/csj/iceraids.html
In January 2006, so-called "Fugitive Operations Teams" were each ordered
by DHS's Office of Detention and Removals Operations to meet a quota to find
and arrest 1,000 individuals per year who had outstanding deportation orders.
Since the quota was instituted, there has been an escalating pattern of pre-
dawn raids of immigrant homes in at least 15 New Jersey towns where the
state's four Fugitive Operations Teams have implemented the quota and DHS's
"Operation Return to Sender."
In these raids, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents enter
immigrant homes in the early hours of the morning, without search warrants,
using intimidation and-on occasion-force, to gather and question everyone in
the home. The ICE agents then arrest persons who cannot immediately prove
legal residence. According to ICE statistics, of the 2,079 "fugitive" arrests
that ICE made in New Jersey last year, 87% of those arrested had no criminal
record. Individuals subjected to the home raids include children and adults
who are U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents.
"Many victims of the raids believe they were duped or coerced into opening
their door to ICE agents, and still have no idea why their family was
targeted. Often the individuals arrested in a raid have lived in the U.S. for
years, raised U.S.-citizen children, worked hard, paid taxes and established
community ties," said Bassina Farbenblum, a CSJ attorney.
Scott Thompson, a lawyer at Lowenstein Sandler who is representing the
CSJ, noted that "because the ICE agents apparently don't get search warrants
and no official records are available, there is currently no way to know
whether they had any legitimate basis or lawful authority to enter a
particular home."
Today's lawsuit seeks to learn more about these ICE enforcement tactics by
obtaining documentation of official policies and other records available to
the public under the FOIA. On December 14, 2007, the CSJ and the Brazilian
Voice, a regional Portuguese-language newspaper, filed a FOIA request seeking
both records relating to the execution of more than 40 suspected raids, and to
the policies and procedures that govern this ongoing practice.
The raids detailed in the request occurred in Trenton, Freehold,
Hightstown, Ewing, Princeton, West Windsor, Union City, Bridgeton, Paterson,
Edison, Metuchen, Woodbridge, Penn's Grove, Clifton, Atlantic City, Vineland,
Englewood, Morristown, Lakewood, Emerson, Hillsdale, Bloomfield, Passaic,
Irvington, Livingston, New Brunswick, New Egypt and Newark.
In its only communication thus far regarding the FOIA submission, the DHS
rejected a request for "expedited processing." According to DHS, the raids are
not an issue of particular public interest because "a preliminary search of
the internet does not indicate that there is substantial current news interest
concerning this topic," and no other individuals have recently sought
information on ICE operations.
Plaintiffs in today's lawsuit are the original requesters, CSJ and The
Brazilian Voice. A copy of the FOIA request and the federal complaint can be
found on the CSJ's Web page: http://law.shu.edu/csj/iceraids.html
Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey's only private law school,
and a leading law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to
preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship
and teaching with a strong focus on clinical education. The Center for Social
Justice, a core of Seton Hall Law School's Catholic mission, provides clinical
education and volunteer opportunities to students and engages in various forms
of advocacy, scholarship and direct legal services in an effort to secure
equality, civil rights and legal protection for individuals and communities in
need. Seton Hall Law School is located in Newark and offers both day and
evening degree programs. For more information visit http://law.shu.edu/.
Founded in 1988, the Brazilian Voice is the largest circulated publication
serving Brazilians living on the East coast of the U.S. Published weekly in
Portuguese, the Brazilian Voice reaches residents via more than 1,000
distribution points in NJ, NY, MA, PA, CT, and DE. The Brazilian Voice is
headquartered in Newark, NJ.
SOURCE Seton Hall University School of Law

Janet LeMonnier, Seton Hall Law School, +1-973-642-8724, C +1- 973-985-3165,
janetlemonnier@gmail.com; or Robin Wagge for Lowenstein Sandler,
+1-212-843-8006, C +1-917-816-4790, rwagge@rubenstein.com