Federal District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Protecting Fifth Amendment Rights of Immigrants Detained in Downtown Los Angeles Detention Center

Last week, a federal district court judge granted a preliminary injunction protecting the Fifth Amendment rights of immigrants detained in a downtown Los Angeles detention center. The court’s decision, which can be read here, found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), likely violated the Fifth Amendment by denying detainees access to counsel. The preliminary injunction request was filed by Hecker Fink, along with leading civil rights groups including Public Counsel, on behalf of Plaintiffs Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef).

Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges the federal immigration authorities are engaged in a pattern and practice of suspicionless stops and warrantless arrests in violation of the Fourth Amendment, and it challenges the unconstitutional and inhumane conditions of confinement at an ICE detention facility in downtown Los Angeles known as “B-18.” As detailed in the complaint, detainees at the facility have been held incommunicado for extended periods without access to counsel; adequate food, water, and medical care; and clean clothes, bedding, and hygiene products.

The Hecker Fink team includes Matthew Craig, Mack Jenkins, Helia Bidad, Ian Robertson, and Avisha Sabaghian.