“Otero County Sheriff. Come outside!”
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
The ACLU and three other organizations have filed lawsuits against the sheriff’s department in Otero County, N.M., for violating the civil rights of Latinos during immigration sweeps in September. They claim the officers raided homes without search warrants and interrogated families without evidence of criminal activity.
“Otero County sheriffs broke a basic bond of trust with the community” in the town of Chaparral, ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson told Cybercast News Service on Thursday. “We need to restore policing to its proper mission so citizens and immigrants alike can trust that someone is watching out for their safety.”
“The enforcement of immigration laws is strictly a responsibility of the federal government,” stated David Urias, staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund (MALDEF). Sheriff’s deputies “do not have the authority or the training to investigate or arrest people because they suspect them of being undocumented.”
Legal documents filed by the two groups on Wednesday on behalf of five adults and four children charge that an operation executed by the sheriff’s department on Sept. 10 violated the plaintiffs’ Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal treatment under the law.One of the incidents described in the suit involved a family – whose members did not want to be identified – claiming that, before dawn, they found a deputy trying to enter their home through a window. After he was spotted, he and other officers moved to the front door, where they knocked loudly.
When no one responded, another deputy called out: “Delivery! Mia’s Pizza!” When that didn’t bring anyone, an officer shouted: “Animal Control. Come outside!” Finally, one of the deputies yelled: “Otero County Sheriff. Come outside!”
One of the family’s teenage children, a U.S. citizen, opened the door a few inches, and he was told their dog had bitten someone, which he said was untrue. Even though the deputies did not have a warrant, they eventually entered the home, emptying bureau drawers and dumping the contents of the woman’s purse onto a bed.
Three hours after the incident began Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrived on the scene and took away the family members who didn’t have the proper documents.
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