Utah’s branch of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against immigration enforcement officials. It says a raid of a Utah family’s home was unlawful.
The ACLU charges federal agents used battering rams and assault-style weapons to conduct a warrantless raid on a Heber, Utah home last spring. The lawsuit alleges agents with U.S. Marshal’s Service and Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE entered on two separate occasions, threatened to take the four young children in the home and arrested the children’s grandmother.
Brittney Nystrom is Executive Director of the ACLU of Utah. She says not only was the family terrorized, the tactics were counterproductive to law enforcement.
“The children may never go up to a police officer, even if in danger and needing help,” Nystrom says. “And these children are U.S. Citizens. This is not normal. This is not lawful. This is not right."
The lawsuit says the grandmother, who had no criminal record, spent a brief time in jail before she was transferred to an ICE detention center in Colorado.
An ICE spokesman says the agency does not comment on pending litigation. But, added that should not be construed as agreement with the allegations.
The Trump administration, through executive order, ramped up immigration enforcement last year.
Ramirez v Reddish Complaint by KUER News on Scribd
