News & Commentary

The ACLU today filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of a North Providence resident who has twice been detained as a deportable “alien” even though she is a U.S. citizen. The lawsuit alleges that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and Rhode Island officials often bypass Constitutional requirements and safeguards when they detain individuals on immigration grounds.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed a legal brief asking a federal court to reject arguments by the United States government that it be dismissed from the lawsuit on behalf of the family of a detainee who died while in the custody of immigration officials at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. 

A federal district court heard oral arguments today on whether to dismiss an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official from the federal lawsuit filed by the R.I. ACLU on behalf of the family of a detainee who died while in the custody of immigration officials at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls. ACLU volunteer attorneys Fidelma Fitzpatrick and Robert McConnell urged the judge to reject the government’s motion.

The Rhode Island ACLU today issued a report examining some of the civil liberties battles that have taken place specifically in Rhode Island in the past decade in response to the government’s “war on terrorism.” Noting that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 offers a time for reflection on the “devastating and horrific loss of life that occurred that day,” the report adds that it also presents an opportunity to reflect on the government’s response and, how “all too often, it has acted in ways inimical to basic civil liberties.”

Shortly after Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin announced plans to register the state and local law enforcement agencies into the federal Secure Communities program, the ACLU and other organizations wrote a letter to Providence city officials urging them to opt out of the program. Yesterday, Providence Commissioner of Public Safety Steven Pare told a City Council committee that he was seeking to do just that. The ACLU applauded city officials for their efforts.

In response to a civil rights complaint filed by the Rhode Island ACLU against the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS) for violating laws requiring the agency to provide appropriate language interpreter services, a detailed 24-page resolution agreement has been entered this week between DHS and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agreement establishes detailed timeframes for DHS to follow in order to ensure that clients who have limited English proficiency (LEP) have access to the services and programs provided by the agency.

The ACLU today applauded Governor Lincoln Chafee's rescission of former Governor Carcieri's executive order on illegal immigration. In addition to lifting a requirement that state agencies use "E-Verify," a flawed federal employment verification system, the governor’s action also ends an agreement, known as 287(g), between state police and federal immigration officials allowing the police to enforce federal immigration law.

The RI ACLU has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) for violating a law that requires agencies receiving federal funding to provide meaningful access to programs, services, and communication for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). The ACLU’s complaint, filed with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), alleges that RISP has failed to adequately assess the needs of LEP populations in Rhode Island, and has also failed to adequately address these needs. As the complaint notes, the failure to sufficiently communicate effectively leads to unequal access to benefits, services, and knowledge of one’s rights for LEP persons.

In response to thousands of pages of discovery documents turned over to ACLU attorneys by the Wyatt Detention Facility, the RI ACLU has today named eight additional defendants, including Memorial Hospital, in its federal lawsuit on behalf of the family of Hiu Lui “Jason” Ng, who died while in the custody of immigration officials at the Central Falls detention center. Ng, a 34-year-old Chinese detainee, died in August 2008 after complaining for months to prison officials about being in excruciating pain. Guards and medical personnel at Wyatt had continually accused Ng of faking his illness and denied him medical care; he was only diagnosed with terminal liver cancer and a broken spine less than a week before he died.