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Immigrant Advocates Sue US Government Over 'Surveillance,' Arrests

by Victoria Macchi

   An immigrant advocacy group is suing the U.S. government over what it
   claims are years of surveillance and harassment in retaliation for the
   organization's pro-immigrant activism.

   The [1]lawsuit, filed November 14 by Vermont-based Migrant Justice,
   alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "targeted,
   surveilled, and spread disinformation" about the group and arrested at
   least 20 of its members.

   "In the course of its advocacy, Migrant Justice has loudly and publicly
   criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"). ICE has
   retaliated, and continues to retaliate, by disrupting Plaintiffs'
   advocacy and infringing upon their First Amendment rights," the
   plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit.

   As of Friday, ICE had not responded to a VOA request for comment.

   Migrant Justice lobbies for labor rights and has campaigned to prevent
   deportations, as well as to create identification cards that would
   allow Vermont residents to drive in the state regardless of immigration
   status. Like many U.S. groups that champion the rights of migrant and
   undocumented workers, Migrant Justice has members who are undocumented.

   The Trump administration has put a public and concerted focus on
   detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants, and some of Migrant
   Justice's members have been detained in the last 18 months, according
   to the lawsuit filed in federal court this week. But the alleged
   infiltration and surveillance of the organization predates Trump's
   tenure, the lawsuit says, claiming Migrant Justice has been targeted
   since 2014.

   While the lawsuit is new, the public allegations by Migrant Justice are
   not. The group and the ACLU have previously said that ICE is targeting
   activists, and a lawsuit filed in 2017 accuses ICE and U.S. Customs and
   Border Protection of targeting the organization's activists. That case
   remains open.

   In a March 2018 report by [2]NPR, Matthew Albence, executive associate
   director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, said, "ICE does
   not target unlawfully present aliens for arrest based on advocacy
   positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make."

   Albence is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, as are Secretary of the
   U.S. Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, ICE Acting
   Director Ronald Vitiello, and Wanda Minoli, Commissioner of the Vermont
   Department of Motor Vehicles.

References

   1. https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Migrant-Justice-v-Nielsen-complaint-2018-11-14.pdf
   2. https://www.npr.org/2018/03/16/593884181/immigration-advocates-warn-ice-is-retaliating-for-activism