ACLU suit: Carver County illegally detained man in order to hand him over to ICE

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota on Wednesday sued Carver County and Sheriff Jason Kamerud, alleging county officials illegally detained a man in order to turn him over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

ACLU staff attorney Ian Bratlie s in a news release that the county violated the Minnesota Constitution by not releasing Maikol Javier Suarez Varela, 20, a Venezuela native who lives in Dallas. He entered the United States lawfully, according to the lawsuit.

“Minnesota law is clear that sheriffs do not have authority to make arrests for civil immigration matters,” Bratlie said. “Carver County cannot be allowed to violate our laws and federal Constitution simply to attack minority groups.”

Carver County Sgt. Colleen Freiberg and an unnamed jail employee are also defendants in the suit. Chief Deputy Sheriff Patrick Barry declined to comment on the allegations.

“We are in the process of reviewing the complaint with our legal department and do not have any additional information at this time,” Barry said.

Deputies arrested Suarez Varela and three others on Jan. 5 in Chanhassen on suspicion that they were attempting to break into an ATM, according to the criminal complaint. He was charged two days later with attempted theft and possession of burglary tools.

The day Suarez Varela was arrested, county officials allegedly alerted ICE authorities that he was in custody. ICE asked the county to notify them when he was scheduled for release and to keep him in jail for up to an additional 48 hours so they could detain him, according to the suit.

On Feb. 3, representatives of the Minnesota Freedom Fund went to the jail to pay Suarez Varela’s $10,000 bail, but according to the suit, they were told by Freiberg that the county would detain him until ICE arrived, even if he posted bail.

Bail was paid on Feb. 13, but Suarez Varela wasn’t released until ICE arrested him. He is being held at Freeborn County jail in Albert Lea, awaiting the outcome of his immigration case.

The ACLU said Carver County violated U.S. and Minnesota constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure. The lawsuit states that ICE’s “detainer” messages sent to the county amounted to nothing more than a request from ICE and were not a legally enforceable command.

Shortly after the Freedom Fund representatives visited the jail, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a formal legal opinion saying that local law enforcement groups “risk significant civil liability if they enforce immigration detainers.”

The ACLU suit says Freedom Fund members asked an unnamed jail employee if they knew about Ellison’s legal opinion, to which she allegedly responded that they were still going to hold him for ICE.

“This case is about the fundamental right to be protected from unreasonable seizure,” said Minnesota ACLU Executive Director Deepinder Mayell in the release. “That right is one of the bedrocks of the Bill of Rights and our democracy.”