FORT WORTH, Texas _ The ACLU of Texas filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday over a raid in Allen where ICE arrested 280 workers.
In April, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations detained hundreds of workers at CVE Technology Group, which refurbishes and repairs electronics. ICE said the employees were undocumented immigrants who were working illegally, according to a news release at the time.
The ACLU of Texas filed an open records request for the search warrants used in the raid. ICE denied that request and has refused to provide the records, breaking Freedom of Information Act laws, according to a lawsuit the group filed in Texas' southern U.S. district court in Houston.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
David Donatti, attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said obtaining those warrants is necessary to understanding whether authorities violated people's civil rights in the raid.
Donatti said the ACLU talked with those who were in the factory that day. Armed officials went into the factory and made all employees, between 400 and 600 people, follow them to a warehouse and provide identification, he said. The workers, many of whom were U.S. citizens, could not use their phones or talk to each other.
"We have serious questions about the way this raid was conducted and whether rights were violated," Donatti said.
ICE told the ACLU they refused the request because release of the search warrants would interfere with ongoing investigations, according to a letter ICE sent the ACLU.
Donatti said that explanation does not make sense because the warrants have already been executed.
"There is no secret here," he said. "ICE has gone on record, published on its website that it is investigating."
ICE could have a plausible reason for denying the ACLU's records request, Donatti said, but ICE is legally obligated to explain that reason. Since they are not doing so, the ACLU wants to force ICE to explain that reasoning in court.
"By filing a lawsuit, we have compelled them to go in front of a court and make that showing to a judge," he said.
The raid was the most people ICE had arrested at one work site in the last 10 years. ICE said they would be interviewing all those arrested to record any medical, sole-caregiver or other humanitarian situations.
Most of those who were arrested were women and had been in the U.S. for a long period of time, Donatti said. The raid was "devastating" for the Allen community and has traumatized those who were involved and their families, he said.
"It was very scary for people _ they experienced a lot of uncertainty," he said. "It creates a lot of fear for the people directly impacted, but also for the community as a whole."
ICE has 30 days to respond to the ACLU's lawsuit.
