Teenagers’ Arrests Are Unconstitutional, A.C.L.U. Lawsuit Says

New York Times 

By Liz Robbins

August 12, 2017

Teenagers’ Arrests Are Unconstitutional, A.C.L.U. Lawsuit Says 

With law enforcement officials aggressively pursuing gang members on Long Island after a recent spate of homicides by the transnational gang MS-13, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a class-action lawsuit on Friday that federal authorities had gone too far.

The A.C.L.U. filed suit against Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several federal immigration agencies on behalf of three Long Island teenagers who, according to their lawyers, were being unlawfully detained on suspicion of being gang members without substantiation.

“If you’re Hispanic and in the Brentwood area here, and you’re a young kid who came here recently, you’re living in a police state,” said Bryan Johnson, a lawyer for one of the teenagers. “Anything you do, you go to school, you’re under investigation.”

Seventeen homicides in Suffolk County in the last 18 months have been attributed to MS-13, which has roots in Los Angeles and El Salvador. Last month, authorities in the county announced the arrest of more than nine people suspected of involvement in the most recent killings, of four young Latino men in April.

The Suffolk County Police Department is not named as a defendant in the suit, and the police commissioner, Timothy D. Sini, declined to comment. But he has said that he would not apologize for the department’s aggressive targeting of MS-13 members or its cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security.

In remarks before President Trump visited the area in July, Mr. Sini said the police department’s efforts were “laser-targeted” and focused on active gang members. “That’s good for Suffolk County; that’s good for Latino communities and undocumented residents as well, because we know M-13 targets them,” he said.

The class-action lawsuit, which amended a suit filed in June on behalf of one of the teenagers, was filed in the United States District Court of the Northern District of California because all three were transferred to detention facilities there.

In response to the lawsuit, Ian Prior, a Justice Department spokesman, said that Mr. Sessions was told during a recent visit to El Salvador about the gang’s recruitment of children. “We will absolutely defend the president’s lawful authority to keep Americans safe and protect communities from gang violence,” Mr. Prior said.

The teenagers came to the United States from Central America in the last three years as unaccompanied minors and were approved by the government to live with a parent. When Mr. Sessions visited Suffolk County in April, he said that some gang members were entering the country as unaccompanied minors. Last month, when Mr. Trump visited, he urged police officers not to be “too nice” to suspects.

Mr. Johnson’s client, identified as F. E., 17, settled in Brentwood in 2014 after escaping death threats from gang members in El Salvador, according to the suit. Mr. Johnson said his client was suspended this spring for three days from Brentwood High School for scribbling in a notebook the El Salvador telephone code “503,” which has been linked to MS-13. After that, the police frequently stopped him.

On June 9, according to the lawsuit, F. E. was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct. He was released on bail but was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. He has since been in three detention facilities from Virginia to California, and on Aug. 4, he was transferred to Lincoln Hall Boys’ Haven in Lincolndale, N.Y.

The court filing describes the arrest of another of the plaintiffs, J. G., a week after the four young men were found dead. According to the filing, J. G, 17, was arrested by Suffolk County police on suspicion of being in a gang because he was wearing a soccer jersey with El Salvador written on it. The police accused him of “killing someone,” the suit said.

The original plaintiff, identified as A. H., was arrested by ICE officers in June, the suit said. He had admitted to being in a gang, “which was untrue,” it said, adding that the officers did not give him an opportunity to gather any belongings or to communicate with his mother or his lawyer.

“Gang violence in our communities is real, and it must be addressed,” said William S. Freeman, a lawyer for the A.C.L.U. of Northern California. But, he said, “we can’t address gang violence by violating the Constitution.”

Follow Liz Robbins on Twitter @nytlizrobbins

A version of this article appears in print on August 12, 2017, on Page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: A.C.L.U. Sues U.S. Over Arrests of 3 Teenagers Suspected of Gang Ties.

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com