Judge blocks sole use of databases to detain immigrants

LOS ANGELES: A federal judge Friday blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from relying solely on flawed databases to target people for being in the country illegally, the Los Angeles Times reported.

U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birrote Jr. issued a permanent injunction barring ICE from relying only on the databases when issuing detainers, which are requests made to police agencies to keep people who have been arrested in custody for up two days beyond the time they would otherwise be held, the Times reported.

The judge’s ruling in a class-action lawsuit also blocks ICE from issuing detainers to state and local law enforcement in states where there isn’t a statute authorizing civil immigration arrests on detainers, the Times reports.

The decision affects detainers issued by an ICE officer in the federal court system’s Central District of California.

The civil case has implications for President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration as the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups sought to upend how immigration officers target people for being in the country illegally, the Times reported.

(Agencies)