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Lawsuits Apr 22, 2019

Early Arrival: City Files Lawsuit Against Immigration Legal Service Provider

New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has filed a lawsuit against a number of immigration legal aid providers for “allegedly using a multi-part scheme to deceive immigrants.” DCWP accused Angel G. Buitron of Buitron Offices & Associates of posing as a renowned lawyer with an expertise in complex immigration cases despite not having a license to practice law anywhere. Buitron allegedly charged immigrants up to $30,000 for legal help and then had Susana T. Abarca, of the Law Office of Susana Abarca, PLLC, appear in immigration court for him, often without the immigrant client’s knowledge.

News Mar 6, 2017

As Many as 60,000 Detained Immigrants May Have Engaged in Forced Labor for Private Prison Companies

Photo Credit: palidachan / Shutterstock.com As many as 60,000 immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could play a role in a class-action lawsuit accusing a private prison company of violating federal anti-slavery laws. The lawsuit alleges that detained immigrants awaiting court dates were forced to work for $1 per day or for free, on threat of solitary confinement. The …

Class-Actions Mar 2, 2017

Class Action Suit: Immigrants Held in Aurora Required to Work for $1 a Day, Threatened With Solitary if Refused

About 62,000 people who were held in an Aurora immigration detention center and required to work, sometimes for $1 a day, while they awaited possible deportation have been certified as a class in a lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Senior Judge John Kane’s ruling could have far-reaching implications, potentially boosting the cost of holding …

Lawsuits Mar 1, 2017

Detainees Sue Private Prison for ‘Forced Labor’

The nation’s second largest private prison company is facing some serious legal challenges—and other companies may soon be in the same situation. On Monday, a federal judge ruled that current and former detainees held at an immigrant detention center in Colorado can join a class-action lawsuit against GEO Group, a private prison company. The plaintiffs allege that the GEO Group forced detainees …

Lawsuits Feb 24, 2017

Immigrant Suit Claims Exploitation by Libre by Nexus

Buy Photo Pictured is a wall with waterfalls inside the Verona offices of Nexus Services Inc.(Photo: By Brad Zinn/The News Leader)Buy Photo 13 CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE A Honduran man and woman who fled their country’s gang violence in 2015 and sought asylum in the United States have filed a multi-million dollar civil class-action lawsuit against Libre by Nexus, claiming the Verona- …

News Dec 14, 2016

Nine Prisoners Have Died at Rancho Cucamonga Jail in Past Year

The death of an inmate earlier this week at San Bernardino County’s West Valley Detention Center marked the ninth at the Rancho Cucamonga jail in the past year, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said Tuesday. All of the deaths were related to inmate medical issues, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said. “To date, nine medical related deaths per year is below average for correction facilities of similar size and function,” Miller said. She said there also was one medically …

Settlements Aug 8, 2016

Appeals Court Rules Against CHP in Class-Action Lawsuit, Orders Agency to Revise Detention Practices

California’s Second District Court of Appeals ruled against the California Highway Patrol this week in a case addressing how the law enforcement agency classifies the arrests of people who are then released without being charged. The class-action lawsuit was brought by John Schmidt, who was arrested by the CHP in 2011 on suspicion of driving under the influence, was booked into the Santa …