ICE detained a U.S. citizen at the Tacoma detention center. Now he's suing
According to court documents filed in Seattle's U.S. District Court on Friday, Carlos Rios had his American passport on him when he was picked up by federal immigration officials.
Still, he was detained for a week at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, WA.
Rios had been stopped for potentially driving under the influence back in Nov. of 2019. He was transferred to the Pierce County jail and then picked up by immigration officials despite telling them he was a U.S. citizen.
He was held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma for a week before being let go. Now, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Group is suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for complaints including false arrest and imprisonment.
In the complaint, lawyers for Rios state he was, "placed in a cell for people at high risk of self-harm and subjected to continual monitoring. He recalls that his bed was taken from him and he was forced to sleep on the floor, with officers threatening to confiscate his clothes as well. A medical provider warned Mr. Rios that he would be medicated."
A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they cannot provide comment on ongoing litigation.
Matt Adams, the legal director for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in a statement said, “ICE officers should not have arrested him absent clear evidence of an immigration violation. They are free to investigate him, but not to callously imprison him while they perform their investigation.”
A recent state law prohibits county jails from collaborating with immigration officials. It is unclear if Pierce County Jail officials reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
