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The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the ACLU of Florida, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP, filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 20, 2022, on behalf of Neville Brooks, a legal permanent resident from Jamaica who was detained by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) on false suspicion of being in the U.S. unlawfully.

The lawsuit was filed against the Marion County sheriff and his deputies, who detained Brooks without any request or warrant from federal immigration enforcement officials. The case challenges his unlawful detention and MCSO’s discriminatory policy of detaining and referring all foreign-born individuals, or those perceived as foreign-born, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), even if they are American citizens or otherwise lawfully in this country.

The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive and declaratory relief for Brooks, and was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS and CASE BACKGROUND are HERE.

UPDATE: The case was settled in March 2023. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) settled the lawsuit for its illegal detention and referral of Neville Brooks. The settlement includes MCSO making critical changes to its discriminatory policies that resulted in Brooks’ illegal detention.

As a result of the litigation, MCSO amended its policies to:

• Make clear that when there is no ICE detainer or warrant, no person may be held in custody or subject to delayed release or otherwise denied release solely because they were born abroad;
• End automatic notifications to ICE based on foreign birth alone;
• Provide limits and guidelines for referrals to ICE; and
• Establish a process for documenting such referrals and the factual basis for them.