Illegal Immigrants Sue Sheriff's Department in Tennessee
Claim Constitutional Rights Violated
The lawsuit, filed July 5th by Nashville Immigration Attorney Elliott Ozment, arose from several incidents in May, June and July in which deputies allegedly violated 14 illegal immigrant's Constitutional rights. Sean Lewis, a Nashville Immigration Attorney told the Columbia Daily Herald, "Those rights include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution." Also named in the original lawsuit were several agents from ICE, as well as Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. The charges against three ICE administrators and Chertoff were dismissed in September.
The resident in charge of ICE operations in Maury County, Special Agent Jonathon A. Hendrix, in a sworn affidavit said that he "did not participate in any raid, stop, search, seizure, interrogation, detainment or arrest that was illegal." "Nor did I conspire to do so with anyone else," Hendrix says in the affidavit.
ICE agents and the Sheriff's Department began working together in May after a 14-year-old boy was caught with a handgun at Whitthorne Middle School. They were looking for a man named "Enrique" who allegedly gave the gun to the boy.
Testimony from the boy's mother led to the arrest of 24 other people who were believed to be in the country illegally.
They teamed up again on June 5 to search for a convicted drug dealer, Juan Martinez. They found him at a job site with another man who volunteered that he was in this country illegally. Also on June 5, Captain Nathan Johns of the Maury County Sheriff's Department stopped a speeding vehicle that was driven by a teenager who admitted having no ID. Johns and ICE agents took the 17-year-old boy to his residence where they made contact with several people who voluntarily admitted to being in America illegally.
Sheriff Deputies and ICE teamed up again on July 3 to search for a man accused of raping a 15-year-old girl. Upon asking for and being given permission to search several homes in the same trailer park, agents once again found numerous people who admitted they were in the U.S. illegally. Those individuals were arrested and many of them are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. All but five of the original 14 plaintiffs have been deported. The remaining five are still in the country awaiting immigration hearings.
The question many Maury County residents are asking is what Constitutional rights are people who are in the U.S. illegally entitled to. The answer is that no one is quite sure. That can only be answered by the courts.
What does appear to be certain is that it will be costly to defend the Sheriff's Department against the lawsuit. Maury County Commissioners however have passed a resolution to support the Sheriff 100 percent and Maury County Mayor Jim Bailey encourages officers to continue enforcing immigration laws.
Positive public opinion and support from the County Commission should be all that are necessary for officials to continue to arrest, detain and deport illegal aliens from Maury County, Tennessee.
Published by Sundance McGee
I write, I speak, I laugh. Public Relations/Communications professional that defies political propaganda and rhetoric. Political critic. Public Advocate. Former U.S. Navy Broadcast Journalist. Award Winnin... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentThese illegals should be deported, I can't believe they are so bold as to try to sue the sheriff's department. This Sheriff department only did what is the law!! I say every town needs police like these!! These mexicans take our jobs, don' t pay taxes and expect us to bow down to them, I am sick of it! As Americans we need to do something. WAY TO GO MAURY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.!!!! Keep them out of our country!!
i'm so sick of this. people here illegally can do as they please. maybe we american's should just say we have no confidence in the senate, congress, and the president. maybe we should elect everyday hard working people from our communities. people who are effected by illegals. people who have to pay higher taxes, can't find work or are forced to learn another language to speak to these criminals. it's time to take back our country and if those people we elect won't do it then it's time we act and take back our home, our country, our america. it's time for all illegals to get out and go home. they are not wanted here.
i think it,s bull, illegal aliens have no rights, no civil rights, the only right they have is to be deported,i am so sick and tired of them ,i was born here .if i was president, i would have them deported and keep them in mexico were they belong, our troops are fighting for us not them; i want them out of our country , i cant stand this no more,they arekilling my american dream. sincerly michael
it seems that the illegal immigrants getting bolder and bolder every minute that the have the audacity to sue a sheriffs for doing his job. i was in a situation where i was in a car accident and got hit by another car with a bunch of Mexicans in it, i got a ticket when i wasn't at fault, the occupants of the other vehicle didn't speak English, none of them had a license nor and I.D. and they call a friend who did speak English to translate for them, he was permitted to drive the vehicle with them in it and all he had was and I.D. no license nothing their vehicle wasn't even insured.
Great reporting!
Excellent reporting. I am glad that there are still people out there that do their jobs to protect the borders.
Amazing. At least the charges were dismissed.
Maury County's finest do a pretty respectable job, &deserve the commisions support and the publics positive opinions. I challange any agency to do so well with their hands tied behind their backs!
this is getting scary..we better be careful who we vote for President this go round!
America is now most likely the only nation where criminals have more rights than law abiding citizens. My take is, round up every illegal immigrant, and regardless of where they came from, dump them in Mexico. Maybe if Mexico has to deal with over 12 million invaders at once, they'll become more interested in helping control the problem. Other solutions? Declare the ACLU to be an illegal entity, and if a lawyer takes on an illegal immigration case and loses, all his money and possessions should be seized by the Feds, the lawyer gets disbarred and banished from the USA for life along with his family.