Honouring Detainers: District Court and Liberties Union

honouring detainers: The ruling came in a pair of class-action cases that were combined because they involve the use of immigration detainers issued by the federal government to hold suspected illegal immigrants up to 48 hours after they are to be released from jail so immigration agents can pick them up for deportation, according to The Chronicle Herald. It is an important precedent for the rest of the country where the law enforcement agencies are still honouring detainers, said attorney Jennie Pasquarella of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Judge Andre Birotte Jr. ruled Thursday in U.S. District Court that immigrants were held too long, denied bail or were locked up despite a lack of evidence. Birotte found the Sheriff's Department violated the detainees' Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizures, which also protects against arbitrary arrests. Officers have no authority to arrest individuals for civil immigration offences. Officers did not have probable cause that the individuals were involved in criminal activity, but were instead holding these individuals on the basis of civil immigration detainers, Birotte wrote. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.