Congressman Conyers Questions ICE Illegal Arrests and Beatings

A story on March 28, 2009 by Gregg Krupa of The Detroit News titled Conyers Rips Deportations describes how over 1,200 people including three members of Congress called for immigration reform at a rally on March 27 as part of a 20-city tour that highlights the failure of immigration reform and the harm caused by increased enforcement.

Congressman John conyers said that there are "ICE people who are beating up people and arresting people for no good reason." He also said that "We ought to take them out and check them out, right off the bat. And guess what? That is exactly what I am going to do in hearings beginning on Wednesday. Congressman Conyers is chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary.

This would not be the first Congressional hearing about illegal ICE raids and illegal ICE conduct. The growing proof of widespread Fourth Amendment violations by ICE bolsters the legal argument to suppress evidence by using the legal test that the United States Supreme Court announced in INS v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032 (1984)! That decision focused on INS policies in 1984 -- something very different from ICE policies today.

Several lawyers are raising this argument in immigration court, with the BIA, and with circuit courts.