SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a request to reconsider its earlier ruling that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s denial of driver’s licenses to certain young immigrants is unconstitutional. The move validates a decision issued in July, ordering the state to stop depriving those young immigrants who came to this country as children from obtaining a driver’s license. This group of young people—who have permission from the federal government to live and work in the U.S.—are seriously impaired by their inability to get drivers’ licenses, the court stated.
Court Cases Immigrants’ Rights
FEDERAL COURT: ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS PROTECT DACA RECIPIENTS
NEW YORK CITY, NY – On the cusp of a critical presidential announcement of broadened affirmative relief for immigrants currently unprotected by law, an important decision emanated from federal court last week. Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the company’s policy of denying employment to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. MALDEF and co-counsel Outten & Golden LLP represent the plaintiff, Ruben Juarez, who was unlawfully rejected for a position at Northwestern Mutual under a policy that denies employment to all persons who are not either U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
MALDEF STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTIONS
MALDEF AND NDLON FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY AND POLICE DEPARTMENT OF BALDWIN PARK FOR VIOLATION OF CALIFORNIA TRUST ACT
LOS ANGELES, CA – MALDEF, together with co-counsel from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of California at Irvine School of Law, today filed a lawsuit, Flores v. City of Baldwin Park, alleging that the Baldwin Park Police Department and the City of Baldwin Park unlawfully imprisoned Sergio Flores at the Baldwin Park Police station, detaining him solely on the basis of an “immigration hold,” in violation of the California TRUST Act.
MALDEF AND OTHER GROUPS FILE COMPLAINT DETAILING SEXUAL ABUSE, EXTORTION, AND HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT ICE FAMILY DETENTION CENTER IN KARNES CITY
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Attorneys from MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), the Immigration Rights and Civil Rights Clinics at the University of Texas Law School, Human Rights First, and the Law Office of Javier N. Maldonado, filed a complaint earlier this week with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) demanding the immediate investigation of and swift response to widespread allegations of sexual abuse and harassment at the detention center in Karnes City.
JUDGE UPHOLDS MALDEF WESTMINSTER POLICE VERDICT
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected a request for a new trial in the Flores v. City of Westminster case earlier this week. The Court’s decision upholds the jury’s verdict finding that Westminster discriminated and retaliated against the Latino police officers who were denied promotions and special assignments. The Court also ruled that the jury’s decision awarding $3.34 million in damages to the three Latino officers will stand.
TEXAS APPLESEED AND MALDEF FILE FEDERAL COMPLAINT CHALLENGING LEAGUE CITY RESOLUTION THAT BANS CHILD REFUGEES
AUSTIN, TX – A complaint filed today with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development challenges a resolution passed by League City, Texas, that denies housing to child refugees in their city. The complaint is the first action of its kind since jurisdictions in Texas began passing anti-refugee resolutions in response to the 57,000 children who have arrived at the U.S. border this year to escape violence in countries including El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
MALDEF SUES MICHIGAN COMPANIES FOR IMMIGRATION FRAUD AND LABOR VIOLATIONS
DETROIT, MI – Today, MALDEF filed suit in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan against Systems USA Inc. and Systems USA Consulting LLC for violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and the Michigan “Minimum Wage Law.” The companies recruited and enticed Mexican computer programmers to apply for nonexistent jobs, and systematically defrauded the federal government to obtain visas for those individuals by representing that they would be employing the programmers once they traveled to the United States. A copy of the complaint can be viewed here.
ARIZONA SUPERIOR COURT GRANTS MALDEF MOTION TO INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF DACA STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION CASE
PHOENIX, AZ – The state court considering an unusual case in which Arizona is suing one of its own community college districts for recognizing that Arizonans should be treated equally, has granted MALDEF’s motion to intervene to represent Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students attending the Maricopa County College District (MCCD). On Friday, the Maricopa County Superior Court held a status conference regarding the dispute with the State of Arizona. Arizona seeks to prevent DACA students from presenting federal employment authorization documents (“EADs”) as proof of eligibility for in-state tuition at MCCD, though MCCD has accepted this federal form for many years.
MALDEF MOVES FORWARD IN SEEKING DAMAGES FOR MINOR IN MARYLAND UNLAWFUL ARREST AND DETENTION CASE
BALTIMORE, MD – Crisfield, Maryland Patrolman Lawrence Daisey this week answered a lawsuit filed against him for unlawfully arresting and detaining a 12-year-old who accidentally broke a laundromat window in Somerset County in December 2010. The suit, filed on February 17 by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, is on behalf of the Villafuerte family and their minor daughter, cited as “M.V.” in the complaint. The Villafuerte family have been residents of Somerset County for more than 20 years.
SUPREME COURT RULING IN FARMERS BRANCH, TX CASE BAD SIGN FOR DEFENDERS OF FREMONT, NEBRASKA ANTI-IMMIGRANT HOUSING ORDINANCE
WASHINGTON, DC – MALDEF, counsel in challenges to nearly identical local anti-immigrant housing ordinances in Nebraska and Texas, welcomed today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision refusing to review a decision by the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the Farmers Branch, Texas tenant-licensing ordinance is an unconstitutional intrusion on the exclusive federal authority to regulate immigration. The Supreme Court’s action today supports MALDEF’s request that the Supreme Court review the related case against the City of Fremont, Nebraska. In the Fremont case, a divided panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a tenant-licensing scheme nearly identical to the one struck down in Farmers Branch.
MALDEF SEEKS TO INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF DACA STUDENTS IN ARIZONA HIGHER EDUCATION LAWSUIT
MALDEF ASKS COURT TO BLOCK NEBRASKA FROM DENYING DRIVER’S LICENSES TO YOUTH PROTECTED UNDER FEDERAL DACA PROGRAM
LINCOLN, NE-Today, MALDEF’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago filed a motion for preliminary injunction in a U.S. District Court in Nebraska. MALDEF asked the court to stop the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) from enforcing the policy and practice of denying driver’s licenses to immigrant youth whom the federal government has authorized to remain in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program. The injunction would remain in place during the pendency of a lawsuit MALDEF filed in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 31 of this year, challenging the DMV’s policy and practice.
THE FULL FIFTH CIRCUIT COURT STRIKES DOWN DISCRIMINATORY, ANTI-IMMIGRANT ORDINANCE IN FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS
NEW ORLEANS, LA -In a 9-5 ruling issued Monday, the full United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down an anti-immigrant, discriminatory ordinance in Farmers Branch, Texas that would have prohibited landlords from renting to immigrants that the city deemed unlawfully present and authorized arrest and prosecution of landlords and tenants found in violation of the law. Under the ordinance, all prospective renters would have been required to provide information about their immigration status and obtain a rental license from the city building inspector, who would be responsible for determining immigration status.
FOURTH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS DECISION TO BLOCK KEY PORTIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA ANTI-IMMIGRANT LAW
RICHMOND, VA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision to block key components of SB 20, South Carolina’s Arizona-style anti-immigrant law. As a result, provisions of the law that would have criminalized daily interactions with immigrants present without status, as well as provisions pertaining to use of identification and registration immigration documents will remain blocked.