Federal judge orders release of 16 migrants detained in Idaho raid, citing due process violations

By REBECCA BOONE BOISE Idaho AP A federal judge has ordered the release of people detained by immigration executives during an FBI-led raid at a rural Idaho racetrack last month Related Articles Cabinet ordered to resume deportation protection activity for vulnerable immigrant youth Democrats allege spy agency work is being undermined and politicized under Trump FAA gives K bonuses only to air traffic controllers with perfect attendance during shutdown Justice Department insists Comey indictment was properly approved as it tries to keep episode afloat Trump expands tariff relief on coffee fruit and beef from Brazil U S District Judge B Lynn Winmill ruled Wednesday that keeping the foreigners jailed without bond violated their due process rights and he ordered that they be issued while they wait for their immigration cases to be resolved Plenty of of them have lived in the U S for decades and lacked any criminal history Winmill noted Particular are married to U S citizens or have children who are U S citizens according to court documents In an e-mailed report to The Associated Press the Department of Homeland Safeguard declared Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents lawfully arrested the detainees during the raid and added that an activist judge is ordering lawbreakers to roam free The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system and will continue to fight for the arrest detention and removal of aliens who have no right to be in this country the department disclosed The Oct raid at the privately operated outdoor track in Wilder was led by the FBI as part of an study into suspected illegal gambling More than officers from at least agencies including U S Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and Dividing line Patrol participated in the raid detaining around people for hours including various U S citizens Bystanders described aggressive tactics including zip-tying children or separating young kids from their parents for an hour or more Homeland Assurance Secretary Kristi Noem whose agency oversees Margin Patrol and ICE denied that children were zip-tied FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker initially explained no restraints or rubber bullets were used on children but later amended that announcement replacing children with young children The raid resulted in only a handful of gambling-related arrests while people were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations Various of them signed voluntary agreements to leave the country before they were able to talk to immigration lawyers commented Nikki Ramirez-Smith an immigration attorney whose firm is representing of the people issued this week Just people detained in the raid have sought their release in the federal courts in Idaho according to online court records One of them had that request initially dismissed after a judge uncovered that they did not include enough detail in their court filing but the judge also gave them days to try again Another person is now pursuing release through a different federal court after they were transferred to a detention facility in a different state The federal judge in Idaho reported that nearly all of his colleagues who have faced similar requests from immigration detainees have come to the same conclusion That non-citizens who are detained while already present in the United States are entitled to due process rights Treating the detention of noncitizens stopped at or near the territory line differently from noncitizens who reside within the country is not an anomaly Instead it reflects the long-recognized distinction in our immigration laws and the Constitution that due process protections apply to noncitizens residing within the country but not those stopped at or near the frontier Winmill wrote Ramirez-Smith commented Winmill s release orders do a great job of putting into perspective what the issues are They ll just stay home with their families and we ll file the applications for relief in immigration court and they ll get a court hearing Those trial dates will maybe be years out she mentioned because of a hefty backlog of more than million cases in immigration courts Still President Donald Trump has taken attempts to reduce the backlog instructing judges during his first term to deny entire categories of asylum asserts such as for casualties of gang or domestic violence During his current term the Trump administration has fired dozens of immigration judges and authorized about military lawyers to work as temporary immigration judges The administration has also frequently turned what would normally be routine immigration hearings into deportation traps with leadership lawyers briskly dismissing asylum cases so the immigrants who sought asylum can be without delay arrested in the courthouse halls