Feds won't deport immigrants in civil rights cases

[Derechos]

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Federal immigration officials say they will not deport immigrants pursuing legitimate civil rights claims, a move hailed by advocates as a way to protect a vulnerable population while critics say it encourages abuses.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a memo Friday that "absent special circumstances," it is against the agency's policy to deport immigrants in the midst of a legitimate effort to protect their civil rights. ICE officials said the memos were designed to provide guidance on exercising appropriate discretion.

The agency already allowed crime victims and witnesses to crimes to remain in the country.

"To avoid deterring individuals from reporting crimes and from pursuing actions to protect their civil rights, ICE officers, special agents and attorneys are reminded to exercise all appropriate discretion on a case-by-case basis when making detention and enforcement decisions in the cases of victims of crimes, witnesses to crime and individuals pursuing legitimate civil rights complaints," the memo states.

ICE said the policy did not stem from a single case.

Yale University professor Michael Wishnie said he and other advocates urged ICE to adopt such a policy after his client, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, faced deportation in December while his civil rights lawsuit was pending. The lawsuit stems from a raid in 2007 in New Haven that critics said was in retaliation for the city becoming the first to offer identification cards to immigrants.

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