Lawsuit: California prisons goal ‘foreign-born’ inmates

SAN FRANCISCO — California’s corrections company routinely refers inmates who seem like “foreign-born” to federal immigration authorities even when they’re U.S. residents and lawful residents, with some improperly detained by the federal government for weeks after their sentences, stated a lawsuit filed in state court docket Thursday.

The lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Basis of Northern California additionally says that inmates singled out as being born outdoors the U.S. are denied entry to rehabilitative applications.

Attorneys representing former and present inmates stated in a information launch saying the lawsuit that California’s insurance policies and practices goal immigrants and refugees based mostly on native land, race and different prohibited classifications.

Corrections officers refer tons of of individuals annually to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, generally known as ICE, for attainable deportation, even these born within the U.S., the lawsuit states.

A spokesperson for the California Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation stated they’re reviewing the submitting.

In line with the criticism, plaintiff Brian Bukle was referred to ICE as a result of he was born outdoors the nation despite the fact that corrections data indicated his standing as a U.S. citizen. He was transferred into ICE custody on the finish of his sentence in June 2020 — lacking Father’s Day along with his son — and was launched after greater than a month solely after an immigration lawyer intervened.

Corrections officers additionally flagged one other plaintiff, Anouthinh “Choy” Pangthong, to ICE despite the fact that he’s a U.S. citizen born in a refugee camp. He spent almost 19 years in jail fearing deportation and wanted an legal professional to take away the federal maintain, the criticism states.

Pangthong stated in an announcement that at one level he virtually hoped to remain in state custody “to only keep away from being ripped other than my dwelling and household. Deportation would imply shedding my family members and a life rooted locally and state I name dwelling.”

The criticism states that the state company’s division operations handbook directs employees to refer inmates who’re foreign-born to federal immigration authorities for attainable deportation, despite the fact that many individuals born overseas are naturalized U.S. residents or everlasting residents who can’t be deported.

The criticism filed in Alameda County gives examples of inmates, some recognized solely by their initials, denied entry to re-entry and different rehabilitative applications as a result of they had been flagged as foreign-born.