Lawsuit accuses ICE of violating due process rights of San Diego detainees

Three immigrants detained in San Diego County filed a proposed class action lawsuit Tuesday alleging they have been unlawfully detained multiple times, violating their due process rights.

The complaint, filed in San Diego federal court, says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials are engaging in a practice of re-detaining people without cause after the individuals were previously cleared for release.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were released from Department of Homeland Security custody after it was determined they were not flight risks or a danger to the community, but then were detained again after they appeared at “check-in” appointments at ICE offices in downtown San Diego.

These new detentions occurred without hearings that would clarify if detaining them again was justified, according to their attorneys, who called the practice “plainly unlawful.”

The lawsuit seeks the plaintiffs’ release and an injunction that prohibits re-detentions unless it can be proven the person is dangerous or a flight risk. While the lawsuit currently applies only to the three plaintiffs, their attorneys say that “likely dozens of individuals with ongoing court proceedings have been subject to check-in arrests in San Diego in recent weeks.”

Monika Langarica, senior staff attorney at the Center for Immigration Law and Politics at the UCLA School of Law, said, “We will not stand by as the administration continues to lay arrest traps for immigrants doing exactly what the government has asked of them, upending the lives they have built in the months, years and decades they have lived in the United States.

“This tactic shatters families, flagrantly violates the Constitution, and undermines the rule of law by punishing people appearing for court and appointments with ICE. We demand the immediate release of our clients and an end to this cruel practice, full stop.”

One of the plaintiffs is Chancely Fanfan, a Haitian minister seeking asylum due to gang violence in his country, which his attorneys say he endured due to his Christian faith.

Fanfan was detained last month after showing up to an immigration hearing and follow-up check-in, according to his attorneys, who say he has no criminal record and has established a Baptist church in San Diego.

“I traveled through Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and finally Mexico,” Fanfan said in a statement. “We waited for one year in Mexico so that we could get a CBP One appointment. It was crucial to me to wait for an appointment so that we could do things the right way.”

The other plaintiffs include a Honduran woman who sought “safety from political persecution” when she entered the United States in 2019, has no criminal record, and complied with all check-ins, according to the lawsuit.

The third plaintiff is a man who has lived in North County for nearly two decades, complied with all check-ins, and has no criminal record outside of a DUI conviction from around a decade ago.

All three are currently being held at the Otay Mesa Detention Center.

“Entrapping and imprisoning people who are complying with their immigration requirements isn’t just cowardly, it’s unconstitutional,” said Bardis Vakili, legal director at the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “Due process requires that, before taking away our freedom, the government must prove at a hearing that detention is justified. It’s a tragedy this lawsuit is necessary to protect our community from ICE and its contempt for basic constitutional principles.”

Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit Tuesday.