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Maricopa County Settles Illegal Immigration Detention Suit for $200,000

On February 11, 2009, Julian Mora, 68, a legal permanent U.S. resident, and his son Julio, 28, a U.S. citizen, were stopped on a public street in Phoenix, AZ, pulled from their truck, handcuffed with zip-ties and taken to an immigration raid in-progress at a nearby worksite while Caucasian drivers on the same road were allowed to pass unhindered. There, they were held in an uncovered outdoor parking lot without food, water, unescorted or immediate use of restroom facilities or contact with persons outside the parking lot until they were finally allowed to prove their immigration status three hours later.

Represented by attorneys Cecillia D. Wang and Andre Segure of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants' Right Project and Annie Lai and Daniel Pochoda of the ACLU of Arizona as well as St. Louis, Missouri attorney Stephen Ryals, they filed a federal civil rights action alleging a violation of the Fourth Amendment. After the court "found that the illegal acts against the Moras resulted from the policies implemented by Sheriff Arpaio as part of his anti-immigrant campaign," Maricopa County decided to settle the lawsuit on July 7, 2011, for $200,000, including attorney fees. See: Mora v. Arpaio, No. CV-09-1719-PHX-DGC (U.S.D.C.-D.Ariz., 2011).

Additional source: ACLU press release dated July 7, 2011, available at acluaz.org.

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Related legal case

Mora v. Arpaio