Center for Social Justice Prevails in Federal Court
Professor Baher Azmy
On May 7, 2009, District Court Judge Peter Sheridan denied a Department of Justice motion to dismiss an action, filed by the Center for Social Justice and Lowenstein Sandler, PC, on behalf of thirteen immigrant residents in New Jersey. The action challenges a pattern and practice of unconstitutional pre-dawn home raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials as part of its “Operation Return to Sender” program, and alleges that federal law enforcement officials violated the victims’ constitutional privacy and due process rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments by forcing their way into immigrant homes without consent or a judicial warrant. Recognizing the seriousness of the allegations against the Government, Judge Sheridan ruled that courts must have an opportunity to offer redress where “federal officials may have violated lawful residents’ fundamental constitutional rights.”
In addition, Judge Sheridan rejected the Justice Department’s assertion that high-level Government officials such as Julie M. Myers, the former Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, were entitled to immunity from suit. The court ruled that the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged that such officials had knowledge of, and acquiesced in, unconstitutional practices by ICE officers or were otherwise responsible for creating a policy and custom under which such abuses could occur. Of the several lawsuits filed against ICE throughout the country challenging its raids practices, this is the first decision to grant such relief. Professor Azmy noted that, “The decision confirms that high-ranking Government officials are not above the law, even when called to account for actions against extremely vulnerable immigrant populations. And, perhaps it will make it a little harder for Government officers to simply attribute a pattern of unlawful behavior of subordinates to the work of ‘a few bad apples.’”
Originally filed in April of 2008, the complaint was amended on May 22 of that year to join to the suit two lawful permanent residents and their U.S. citizen son, age 9, after federal ICE agents forced their way into the family’s home without a warrant. Once inside the home, the agents engaged in a range of outrageous and intimidating behavior, including pointing a gun at the boy, and threatening to take him from his family.
CSJ and Lowenstein Sandler along with Newark newspaper, The Brazilian Voice, have also sought to compel the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the Freedom of Information Act to release documents regarding its practice of executing pre-dawn warrantless raids.
Bassina Farbenblum, who devoted much of her two years as a Practitioner in Residence at CSJ to this case, learned of the decision on her last day on the job. She said, “The decision permits us to fully investigate the ill-conceived “Operation Return to Sender” program and those responsible for the violation of our clients’ rights. It is, for now, a big win.”
Former CSJ Clinical Fellow, Scott Michelman, made significant contributions to the case, as did Seton Hall students Stephen Biggs (’08), Margaret Hirce (“08) and Justin Lapianna (’10).
Read more about CSJ and its efforts to fight unlawful ICE home raids.