An activist, arrested earlier this year during a protest against President-Elect, Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. She accuses them of holding her, unlawfully, overnight for a federal immigration check, even though she holds US citizenship.
The suit was filed on Wednesday in federal court in Phoenix, by Jacinta Gonzalez Goodman. Goodman claims that, although Sheriff Arpaio will be out of office in just a few days, the lawsuit will also pressure incoming Sheriff, Paul Penzone, to end the agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agreement enables inmates to have holds placed on them by the Sheriff’s office for ICE to check for any immigration violations they may have committed.
Gonzalez Goodman claims that thousands of people are kept in custody every day on retainers, despite this being a violation of their constitutional rights. The Sheriff’s office has not commented on the matter but a written statement has been issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe. She says that everybody at jails in Maricopa County is screened by ICE as it allows the agency to identify any immigrants who may require a further review.
O’Keefe added that law enforcement agencies from around Phoenix and elsewhere in the country collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the Priority Enforcement Program. This seeks to make sure that dangerous immigrants, who are a public safety risk, do not get released without first having an immigration check performed.