Friend,

Just hours after being arrested on a misdemeanor charge that was later dropped, Winston posted $100 bond and thought he would be released.

Under the law, he should have been set free. Instead, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) in Ocala, Florida, had moved him from a holding area and decided to keep him in an overcrowded housing area for a second night while repeatedly asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) whether it wanted to take him into custody.

Why?

Because of his nationality, and because the MCSO had a financial incentive to do so.

The fact is, Winston – whose name has been changed for this story – is a lawful permanent resident in a state with nearly 4 million people who were born in other countries and are now naturalized citizens or legal residents of the U.S.

A legal U.S. resident from Jamaica, Winston has never been convicted of any crime. As it turned out, ICE had not requested that he be detained and had no interest in him.

But for Winston, then age 57, the August 2020 detention was not only traumatic, it was consequential. Five days later, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in a hospital emergency room.

In an effort to put an end to such unconstitutional practices, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP have filed suit in federal court on Winston’s behalf.

“I thought they would deport me as a criminal back to Jamaica and that life would be very hard for me there,” Winston told the SPLC. “No one asked me about my immigration status; they just assumed that ICE wanted me.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, brings claims against Marion County Sheriff William “Billy” Woods and other county employees for violations of Winston’s civil rights under the Fourth and 14th Amendments and false imprisonment under Florida state law. It also asks the court to award compensatory and punitive damages.

“Federal and state laws enshrine basic principles: No one should be forcibly detained without cause, and no one should be treated differently based solely on where they were born,” said Victoria Mesa-Estrada, a senior staff attorney for the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project.

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In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.

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