On November 14, 2018, Migrant Justice, Inc. and four individual members of the organization filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. The plaintiffs sued the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the ...
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On November 14, 2018, Migrant Justice, Inc. and four individual members of the organization filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. The plaintiffs sued the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, and the United States under 42 U.S.C. §1983 and Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908). The plaintiffs, represented by the various public interest organizations including the ACLU of Vermont, Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Immigration Law Center, as well as private counsel, sought injunctive, monetary, and declaratory relief, claiming violations of the First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, as well as Federal Tort Claims, including Invasion of Privacy, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, and False Imprisonment.
The plaintiffs were organizers and advocates for immigrant farmworkers. They alleged that ICE has retaliated against them in response to their advocacy and public criticism, thereby chilling their speech and interfering with their freedom of association. As a result, Migrant Justice claimed that it had to take extensive and costly precautions, limiting its overall reach to the community.
Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that ICE has infiltrated their meetings; targeted, surveilled, and engaged in disinformation campaigns to sow distrust among their members; and arrested and/or detained no fewer than twenty active Migrant Justice members pursuant to an unlawful retaliatory policy. The plaintiffs further alleged that DMV employees consistently share personally identifying information about plaintiffs with ICE in a manner that disproportionately targets and impacts non-white and Latino residents.
The plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on February 7, 2019, removing one member of the organization as a plaintiff. There were no other substantive changes made to the complaint. As of October 7, 2019, this case was ongoing.
Shannon Nelson - 04/22/2019
Olivia Vigiletti - 10/05/2019
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