A federal judge has temporarily blocked tactics used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct warrantless immigration raids on construction sites in southern Alabama in response to a lawsuit filed by a Latino construction worker who has been detained three times, despite being a U.S. citizen.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock issued a temporary stay Monday against several DHS policies being challenged by Leo Garcia Venegas, the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed last October by the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm. The suit seeks to stop "dragnet raids" that it alleges target Latino construction workers without reasonable suspicion and continue detaining them even after they offer evidence of citizenship, violating the Fourth Amendment.
