The case of Mr. Del Agua, a landscaper and father of two, is at the heart of the lawsuit. OnFebruary 7, 2014, deputies responding to a trivial noise complaint slammed Mr. Del Agua against his car, broke his cell phone, and arrested him without cause. (Click here for video of the arrest, scroll to minute 1:40.) After the arrest, the county jail held Mr. Del Agua for three nights on an "immigration hold," only releasing him when a local
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Del Agua Family
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attorney pointed out the detention violated the state's TRUST Act and the US Constitution.
Mr. Del Agua's detention caused great anxiety and anguish to him, his wife Julie (a schoolteacher) and the couple's two young children, who were terrified they would never see him again. Moreover, the incident undermined community confidence in the Sheriff's Department. "I was away from my wife and kids three nights, constantly thinking about how they were doing, and I couldn't talk to them, or comfort them. I would never want this to happen to anybody else and that is why I am here filing a lawsuit," Mr. Del Agua stated.
Angela Chan, Senior Staff Attorney and Policy Director at Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus remarked: "True public safety is anchored in respect for basic civil rights. All residents benefit when we can build transparency, accountability, and trust between all communities and local law enforcement."
Erik Olson, Partner at Morrison and Foerster, stated "With today's suit, we hope to right the wrong done to Mr. Del Agua and uphold the civil rights of all Sacramento County residents. We want to make it perfectly clear that detaining anyone without a valid reason violates the most basic principles of our justice system."
Misconduct complaint upheld: Advocates first contested the detention in a legal claim submitted to Sacramento County last June as a required precursor to a formal lawsuit. While the County did not resolve that claim in time to prevent a lawsuit, Sheriff Jones recently sustained a related misconduct complaint also filed last June. In his letter, Sheriff Jones wrote "the information obtained in the [department's] investigation revealed substantial evidence to support your claim regarding employee misconduct. Therefore the disposition of this case will be classified as SUSTAINED."
Background: The hold on Mr. Del Agua violated both California's TRUST Act (AB 4 - Ammiano) and also the US Constitution, as confirmed by a major federal court ruling in Oregon last April, Maria Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County, No. 3:12-cv-02317-ST. That ruling - coupled with years of community organizing -has spurred nearly all of California's counties to build on the TRUST Act's protections and completely end the unconstitutional holds in local jails. These policies have helped sharply reduce painful deportations and keep families together across California. However, some jurisdictions, including Sacramento County, have continued to violate the rights of immigrants, such as those that occurred in Martin Del Agua's case.
While the Obama administration has indicated it will soon issue immigration holds only in limited circumstances, it is unclear when these new practices will begin. Immigrant advocates also have expressed profound concerns about the administration's planned continuation of deportation policies which will hurt families, violate civil rights, and further undermine community confidence in law enforcement.
