Facts

In 2017, various government operations in the United States detained undocumented Central American immigrants allegedly involved with gangs in high security detention centers. Many of the children, ages 15 to 17 years old entered the United States as unaccompanied minors previously apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services. These Sponsored UCs are protected under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. However, ICE rearrested dozens of Sponsored UCs without notice to their parents or attorneys. Plaintiff, Ilsa Saravia, acting on behalf of her son and a class of Sponsored UCs who had been rearrested and detained by ICE on the basis of allegations of gang membership, brought a class action lawsuit against Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions and officials of the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in relation to the unauthorized rearrest of class members by ICE agents.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that the rearrest of the Sponsored UCs was a violation of the Fourth Amendment, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. Plaintiff also contended that defendant violated plaintiff's due process rights

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied plaintiff's contentions.

Result

In November 2017, the court preliminarily certified a class of noncitizen minor children who had been rearrested by ICE on the basis of allegations of gang membership, and issued a preliminary injunction requiring that rearrested class members receive prompt written notice of the basis for their rearrest and a prompt hearing in Immigration Court, in which the government would bear the burden of proof to establish that the minor must be detained because he was a flight risk or a danger to the community. Following the issuance of the injunction, class members received immigration court hearings, and approximately 90 percent of them were promptly released from detention. The parties subsequently entered into a settlement agreement, which the court approved. The settlement agreement incorporated and strengthened the procedural protections contained in the preliminary injunction. In addition, defendants agreed that they would not deny class members access to certain immigration benefits, including Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, asylum, or T or U visas, on the basis of unsubstantiated gang allegations, and would provide class members notice and an opportunity to be heard before attempting to deny such benefits. Defendant also agreed to implement procedures to properly identify class members prior to rearrest, and to train ICE's workforce to properly implement the procedural protections contained in the settlement.