He was detained at the border for four hours. Now he's suing for damages
In July 2017 Andres Sosa Segura was transferring buses at a Spokane Greyhound station. His attorneys say he was stopped by Border Patrol, questioned, and then taken to detention facility.
This week, with Northwest Immigrants Rights Project and the ACLU of Washington, he's suing the agency.
Sosa's attorneys say U.S. Customs and Border Patrol singled him out at the bus station because of the color of his skin.
Sosa is Mexican and is currently applying for permanent status to stay in the U.S.
When Border Patrol agents asked about his legal status, Sosa told them he wouldn't talk without a lawyer present.
"When he asserted his right to remain silent — which is his constitutional right to do — they accused him of being illegal," said Lisa Nowlin, staff attorney at the ACLU of Washington.
Nowlin said he was taken to a detention facility and then held there for four hours before they dropped him back off at the bus station.
"He'd missed all the buses home for the day and his wife ends up having to drive across the state to pick him up," Nowlin said.
In a statement Sosa said, "I didn’t understand what was happening, why they were keeping me, where they were taking me, or when I’d be able to see my family.”
Matt Adams, legal director at Northwest Immigrants Rights Project, said Sosa has been too frightened to ride a bus since the incident.
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Casey Martin
Reporter
Casey Martin is a general assignment reporter who has covered everything from political protests to electric scooters. He is almost always out in the field where the news happens. Casey has reported on extremism, houselessness, politics and Seattle’s nightlife.
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