ICE settlement over Tennessee workplace immigration raid gets final approval

ICE workplace immigration raid settlement overview: 

• Who: The federal government has agreed to pay $1.75 million to a class of Latino workers who were arrested during an April 2018 raid of a slaughterhouse in Tennessee. 
• Why: The Latino workers argued they were targeted by the ICE agents without probable cause and subjected to mass arrest solely on account of their race.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Tennessee federal court.

The federal government has agreed to pay $1.75 million as part of a settlement to resolve claims that federal agents working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeted Latino employees without probable cause during an April 2018 raid of their workplace, a Tennessee slaughterhouse. 

Plaintiff Isabel Zelaya claimed in 2019 that Latino workers at the slaughterhouse had been targeted by ICE agents and subjected to mass arrest solely on account of their race. 

A federal judge in Tennessee has granted final approval for the class action settlement, which will give workers who were arrested during the raid a combined total of $550,000 in compensation, Law360 reports. 

In addition, a total of $475,000 will reportedly be given to six individual plaintiffs, to resolve claims the ICE agents used excessive force and made unlawful arrests. 

ICE agents arrested 104 Latino workers during raid, let all other employees go, class action says

A total of 104 workers were arrested during the April 2018 raid — all of whom were Latino and handcuffed with zip ties  — while everyone else at the slaughterhouse was allowed to go, Law360 reports. 

The majority of those arrested were reportedly processed for deportation, while dozens of the arrested Latino workers were later transferred to detention centers located in Louisiana and Alabama.

Counsel for the plaintiffs argued the ICE warrant was motivated by bias and failed to cover that it would be used to arrest people for immigration offenses rather than, as it turned out, simply for being Latino, Law360 reports. 

A class action lawsuit was filed against the acting director of ICE — along with the secretary of Homeland Security and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland — in January by a group of 22 asylum seekers arguing ICE risked their safety by allegedly publishing their private data on its public-facing website.

Have you been targeted for arrest on account of your race? Let us know in the comments! 

The ICE workplace immigration raid class action lawsuit is Zelaya, et al. v. Jere Miles, et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-00062, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

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