MA ACLU says government created ‘deportation trap’

By: Rebecca Turco

Email: rturco@abc6.com

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Local branches of the ACLU are criticizing the government for creating a so-called “deportation trap” for immigrants seeking legal status.

The Massachusetts ACLU filing a briefing Monday for its class-action case against the federal government. Local woman Lilian Calderone, who has lived in America since she was three-years-old, is the lead plaintiff.

Emails included in the legal briefing show the back and forth between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), setting up times to arrest undocumented immigrants right after they complete a marriage interview alongside their citizen spouse. That interview is the first step in a process aimed at minimizing family separation.

"The collaboration was pretty blatant," Steven Brown, the head of the Rhode Island ACLU, told ABC6 News Tuesday. "This type of bait and switch is absolutely inexcusable and it’s shameful that our government is doing this sort of thing to people here."

One email from an ICE official included in the filing said he would prefer not to overschedule arrests at USCIS branches not just because of logistics, but also because it: “has the potential to be a trigger for negative media interest.” Even if someone is approved to stay with their family while they pursue legal status, ICE can still detain them, according to depositions from officials.

Brown says that’s exactly what happened to Calderon when she was detained for about a month. Calderon has no criminal history. "This is a great country and that’s why we’re trying to be here and to do things the right way,” Calderon told ABC6 News in April.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston has no comment on Monday’s court filing.

A hearing on the case is set to begin Monday in federal court in Boston.

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