ICE incorrectly identified an American citizen as Jamaican, leading to his preparations for deportation

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Federal Court Rules Detention of U.S. Citizen by ICE Was Unconstitutional. Miami, Fla. — In a significant decision, a federal court granted partial summary judgment in Brown v. Ramsay, siding with Peter Sean Brown, a U.S. citizen wrongfully detained by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A federal court today granted a motion for partial summary judgment in Brown v. Ramsay, 

A federal lawsuit was filed against Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay after U.S. citizen Peter Sean Brown was unlawfully detained at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite Brown’s repeated assertions of his citizenship, authorities ignored his pleas, holding him in jail under threat of deportation to Jamaica—a country with which he has no connection.

Brown suffered severe emotional distress during his wrongful detention. His near-deportation was only halted after a friend urgently sent a copy of his U.S. birth certificate to ICE. The case, Brown v. Ramsay, is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The court found that Brown’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when Sheriff Rick Ramsay’s office detained him in April 2018 based on an ICE detainer that falsely identified him as a deportable Jamaican immigrant. The ruling emphasized that ICE lacked probable cause to issue the detainer and that MCSO had no legal basis to comply with it in the face of clear evidence of Brown’s U.S. citizenship.

ICE’s controversial “detainers” ask state and local law enforcement agencies to re-arrest and detain individuals identified by ICE for up to 48 hours after their state cases have ended. The ruling is a win for immigrants’ rights, demonstrating that – as advocates have long argued – ICE detainers are deeply flawed and local officials act at their own peril when they accept these documents to justify additional detention. Monroe County joins a long list of jurisdictions that have been held liable or settled claims arising from immigration detainer holds.

The decision comes amid increasing reports that ICE has arrested, detained, and even deported U.S. citizens as ICE engages in mass deportations. State police have done the same; in Florida, SB 4-C – which makes it a felony for certain undocumented people to enter the state based solely on their immigration history – put U.S. citizens at further risk of arrest and deportation. Last month, a U.S. citizen was wrongfully arrested under the law by local law enforcement who suspected he was undocumented, underscoring the dangers of immigration enforcement by local authorities and causing a federal judge to reiterate that enforcement of the law is currently prohibited because it is likely unconstitutional.

Quotes from co-counsel are as follows:

“We have seen the ICE detainer system fail time and again, but the County still chose to put Mr. Brown through this nightmare,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy project director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “At a moment in which we are seeing a raft of unlawful immigration arrests of citizens by federal and local authorities, this decision is a key reminder that the Fourth Amendment safeguards us all.”

“This case highlights the significant threat posed to U.S. citizens by frequent ICE errors, which are exacerbated when local law enforcement agencies participate in immigration enforcement,” said Amien Kacou, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida. ““This case makes one thing clear: state and local police who act as ICE’s enforcers do so at their own peril. The Sheriff’s office cannot deflect responsibility onto ICE and ignore its independent duty to ensure there is probable cause before arresting someone like Mr. Brown. His perseverance in this lawsuit reaffirms that the U.S. Constitution protects every Floridian, regardless of citizenship.”

“We welcome the court’s ruling, which affirms that no person should be unlawfully detained based on flawed immigration enforcement practices,” said Sui Chung, executive director at Americans for Immigrant Justice. “Today’s decision brings long-overdue relief for Mr. Brown, whose unjust legal ordeal should never have happened. The court’s ruling is a strong reminder that law enforcement must uphold constitutional protections for all individuals, regardless of status.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, and Americans for Immigrant Justice filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a natural-born U.S. citizen who was unlawfully detained — and nearly deported — as a result of a Florida sheriff’s improper collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.