Reuters is reporting that Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that police officers cannot detain undocumented immigrants without cause—and holding them while waiting for federal law enforcement officers is not an acceptable reason.
The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that doing so amounts to a fresh arrest of the person that is not authorized by state law, in the first such ruling to apply to an entire state, according to Massachusetts' attorney general.
"Massachusetts law provides no authority for Massachusetts court officers to arrest and hold an individual solely on the basis of a Federal civil immigration detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise be entitled to be released from State custody," the court wrote in its decision.
The case in front of the court concerned a Cambodian man named Sreynuon Lunn who had been detained on a larceny case that ended up being dismissed.
Lunn, who had a 48-hour ICE detainer request on his record, was detained after a judge ruled against Lunn’s release. Hackett acknowledged that Lunn “was aware” of the ICE detainer order ahead of his final court appearance, but claimed that Lunn “was never provided with any process to challenge the detention request or a hearing to be heard regarding its issuance.”
Hackett, in Lunn’s petition, argued that trial courts are not authorized to hold individuals for “purely civil immigration violations.”
“By announcing that the court would hold the defendant on the ICE detainer past the time when he would otherwise be released from state custody, the trial court has effectuated a new arrest based solely on a civil immigration detention request,” Hackett wrote.
And the court agreed. With the Gestapo-style ramp-up of ICE agents in our country, it is good to see a decision made with logic in mind.