Nevada ACLU cries foul over transfer of man in local jail to immigration authorities

LAS VEGAS (CN) — A man initially held in a Nevada jail said in a Thursday court filing that he was unlawfully transferred to federal authorities in violation of state law.

Sergio Morais-Hechavarria initially sued last week over an agreement the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department forged this year with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Called a 287(g) agreement, it allows ICE to tap local law enforcement for help in federal immigration enforcement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada said in a statement.

“LVMPD releasing Mr. Morais-Hechavarria into ICE custody immediately after we filed a legal challenge to their unlawful cooperation with ICE is egregious,” said Athar Haseebullah, ACLU of Nevada executive director, in a statement. “If a local government agency like LVMPD is permitted to arbitrarily enter into agreements with the federal government with no state legislative authorization to do so and to thereafter disregard a lawfully issued Nevada court order at its own discretion, we face a major separation of powers issue with both our state Legislature and state judiciary lacking coequal power.”

The ACLU argued that agreement is forbidden by Nevada state law, which doesn’t allow state or local agencies to help the federal government, unless the Legislature agrees.

Under the agreement, ICE can use local authorities when executing civil immigration warrants and hold people past their release dates. That violates state law, as does the failure of federal authorities to reimburse local police for detaining people for ICE.

The situation escalated this week when an attorney for Morais-Hechavarria tried to visit him in jail and discovered he’d been transferred into federal custody and moved to Texas. That transfer occurred after a Nevada judge sentenced him to an inpatient treatment facility as part of a criminal sentence for a misdemeanor conviction. Additionally, the attorney received no notice of the transfer, the ACLU said.

That discovery led the attorney on Thursday to add to the initial suit against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill.

A hearing on Morais-Hechavarria’s petition is set for next week in Clark County Eighth Judicial District Court.

Morais-Hechavarria has asked a judge to declare that the police and sheriff have no power to have a 287(g) agreement with ICE, or the authority to detain people under state law with immigration warrants. He also wants a judge to stop authorities from holding people for ICE after their release date, and lift any ICE warrant holds on him specifically.

“Our challenge to [the police’s] reckless and unlawful agreement with ICE is moving forward, and we remain confident in our arguments as we fight to preserve the integrity of Nevada’s judicial system, the Nevada Legislature, and the civil liberties we hold dearly,” Haseebullah said. “We aren’t in the business of bending the knee.”

Morais-Hechavarria is seeking relief through what’s called a writ of mandamus, which is needed when no plain or adequate remedy exists in the law. It is used to force action that’s required from an office, or to rein in abuse or arbitrary discretion.

Alternatively, Morais-Hechavarria is seeking release under a writ of habeas corpus. That allows him to probe the reason for his imprisonment. If no legal reason exists, a judge must free him.

Also a plaintiff in the civil suit, ACLU of Nevada has existed for over 55 years and has over 5,000 members in the state.

The police department and sheriff declined comment.