U.S. citizens sue for being swept up in raids on illegal immigrants
USA Today has a story today about United States citizens who are suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nitin Dhopade, 47, says in the article that he and 30 other administrative workers for a Van Nuys, Calif., company were marched down a stairwell lined by officers. The workers were ordered against a wall and told not to touch anything or use their cellphones.
"There was no way you could leave. You were definitely detained," he says. "None of us were in handcuffs, but there was no way you could say 'I'm leaving.' "
"That marked the beginning of a surprise raid that would result in the arrests of 138 suspected illegal immigrants, about one-fifth of MSE's workforce. Also swept up in the same raid were more than 100 U.S. citizens and legal residents, including Dhopade, a naturalized U.S. citizen from India. They say they were illegally detained at the factory for an hour when ICE agents blocked the doors and interrogated them, forbidding them to leave or go to the bathroom without an escort."
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico city
