A US citizen was held in an immigration prison for a month and almost deported: his statements and family testimonies were simply ignored

A US citizen spent 36 days in an immigration detention facility in the San Joaquin Valley. Now ICE is being sued, reports The FresnoBee.

Photo: Shutterstock

California civil rights organizations are suing the USCIS for the "illegal arrest and detention" of a US citizen in 2020.

The lawsuit came months after a government report revealed that ICE needed to better train its staff in verifying people's citizenship.

The California legislature will again consider a bill at its next legislative session that will completely stop transfers to ICE.

Late on the evening of November 22, an ICE spokesman said the agency would not comment on "the trials or their results."

A spokesman did not respond to a question about the government's record of such arrests.

Asian Americans Stand Up for Justice - The Asian Law Group and the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a federal lawsuit on Nov. 22 on behalf of Brian Boucle, 62, of Corona in Riverside County.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officers transferred Boucle into ICE custody on June 17, 2020, when two G4S Secure Solutions security guards arrived to retrieve him.

The lawsuit says Boucle spent 36 days at the Mesa Verde ICE processing center in Bakersfield — at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak — before the government recognized his U.S. citizenship and an immigration judge rejected his deportation case.

Jenny Zhao, a senior attorney with the Asian American Advocacy and Asian Law Group, said ICE employees in this case were "not fully adhering" to the agency's internal policy, which outlines what they should do when someone says they US citizen.

“One thing we would like to do with this case is highlight the mistreatment of people who are detained by ICE and how ICE flouts the law and makes decisions that have enormous impact on members of our community,” Zhao said.

On the subject: A man driving an SUV into a crowd of parade participants in Wisconsin has a long criminal record

The lawsuit cited wrongdoing such as false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, willful infliction of emotional distress and negligence, among others.

The claim claims an unspecified amount of damage.

Vasudha Talla, director of the Northern California ACLU's Immigrant Rights Program, said she believed that a decision on damages could only be made by a court after hearing testimony and evidence of what Boucle went through.

According to her, he "suffered" during his arrest and then during his detention in the midst of the pandemic.
“He was incredibly concerned about his health and safety and, of course, fear of deportation,” Talla said. “He continued to suffer from emotional distress long after his release.”

ICE detained Boucle so that CDCR would hand him over to the federal immigration agency upon his release.

The plaintiff has informed ICE several times that he is a US citizen

The suit states that Boucle informed CDCR officials several times that he was a US citizen, but they refused to overturn ICE's detention.

According to the lawsuit, Boucle was looking forward to reuniting with his son on Father's Day.

The day before his release, a CDCR officer informed him that ICE would pick him up the next day.

According to the lawsuit, he once again told CDCR officials that he is a US citizen, but to no avail.

G4S guards took him to the ICE back office in Bakersfield, after which they held him in custody for over a month.

In February, the same organizations sued ICE for using private security guards to make immigration arrests, a practice they say is prohibited by federal law.

Federal codes specify the immigration officers who are authorized to make such arrests.
In December, a lawsuit was filed against the state of California on behalf of four individuals, including Boucle, over their "illegal" transfers to ICE by security personnel.

Around the same time, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Boucle with the federal government in his citizenship case.

Boucle's brother, Basil Boucle, said ICE staff should listen to the family members of the detainees.

Brian Boucle, born in the British Virgin Islands, received US citizenship from both of his naturalized parents.

The lawsuit says he has been in the US since childhood and has been a US citizen for over 50 years.

Basil Boucle said that when his brother was detained by ICE, he also tried to inform ICE staff of his brother's citizenship.

“They refuse to hear what you have to say,” said Basil Boucle, a U.S. Army veteran. “Brian’s situation was truly overwhelming.”

ICE threatened to deport Brian Boucle to the British Virgin Islands.

But an immigration judge dropped his deportation case after the government recognized his citizenship.

“If they deported him ... they would take away all the privileges and rights of an American citizen, and that was wrong,” his brother said.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

A July report by the US Government Audit Office outlines the steps needed to track such arrests more effectively, and the need for better training.

Between 2015 and early 2020, according to the GAO, according to ICE, the agency arrested 674 potential US citizens, detained 121, and deported 70 people.

The GAO also found that ICE's policy requires employees to maintain records of citizenship confirmation, but does not require employees to "renew their citizenship field after identifying evidence that a person may be a US citizen."

“As a result, ICE does not know the extent to which its officers are taking enforcement action against individuals who may be U.S. citizens,” the report said.

Talla said the number of US citizens arrested by ICE is also likely an underestimate, as the report is based on ICE's own data.

“Unfortunately, this didn’t just happen to Mr. Boucle because of ICE’s incredibly problematic practices,” she said.

However, not everyone will take legal action because it can be a resource-intensive process.

"But Mr. Boucle was always very clear that what happened to him was wrong," Zhao said.

“Not only did they detain him, but they did it very disrespectfully when they did not believe everything he said,” she added.

Vision act

Zhao and Talla believe there is a simple solution to the problem: Assembly Bill 937, also known as the Vision Act.

The Vision Act prohibits CDCR from transferring people to ICE after they are released.

The bill was extended until the next legislative session in 2022.

Sang Nguyen said he was very aware of the damage ICE's remittances are doing to families.

Nguyen's uncle Binh Vo is a Vietnamese refugee who grew up in Orange County.

After serving over 20 years in prison for a crime he committed at the age of 20, Waugh now faces the threat of deportation.

Nguyen said his uncle will be released on parole on November 24.

The family planned that he would return home and even bought him new clothes.

But the family recently found out that ICE could pick it up.

“We all feel terrible,” he said. “He has already paid a very high price for what he did, so now we are sending him to another country - the country of communism?”

Read also on ForumDaily:

The oldest man in the world dies: this woman was born in the XNUMXth century

Americans are promised a very long and cold winter: forecast details

Man sent to jail and stripped of US citizenship for lying in immigration application

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.