Challenging the unlawful detainment of Myriam Parada.
Case Updates
VICTORY! On Nov. 30, 2022, a federal appeals court upheld the lower-court ruling. The Eight Circuit Court of Appeals panel wrote, "Anoka County’s policy is a classic example of national-origin discrimination."
WE WON FOR MYRIAM! On Jan. 28, 2021, a jury found that Anoka County and its sheriff falsely imprisoned Myriam by slow-walking her booking and following an unwritten and unconstitutional policy of contacting ICE about people born outside the U.S.
VICTORY! On August 25, 2020 we won a partial summary judgment finding that Anoka County Jail discriminates against people on the basis of national origin, violating the 14th Amendment right to equal protection.
Case Background
The ACLU of Minnesota defends the constitutional rights of everyone living in this country. Immigrants are protected under the constitution. This case argues that Anoka County Police and the Coon Rapids Police Department violated Myriam Parada's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights when Parada was profiled and unlawfully detained and imprisoned.
Ramsey County resident Myriam Parada was driving in Coon Rapids when a woman rear-ended her. The woman called the Coon Rapids Police Department. Despite the other driver's considerable driving violations, including 12 convictions for traffic violations since 2012, the officer did not cite her for rear-ending Parada and allowed her to leave the scene of the crime. The driver was also not cited for not having a Minnesota state driver's license, despite living in Minnesota. Parada provided the officer with proof of insurance, as well as a Mexican Consular card (commonly referred to as a Matricula Consular card). The Matricula Consular card listed Parada's full name, date of birth, address, and recent photo. The card itself has security features to ensure its authenticity.
The police officer at the scene told Parada that he needed to bring her in to get her prints and verify her identity. The police officer had issued six citations in the previous year for failure to possess a Minnesota's driver's license, and never arrested anyone. The ACLU-MN believes the officer arrested Parada because of her suspected immigration status. She was arrested and placed in the Anoka County jail. Nobody asked her information about her name, address, or date of birth. Parada was cleared from custody on July 25, 2017. The Anoka County jail also did not release Parada right away, and instead continued to hold her based on her nationality and suspected immigration status. While she was still in custody after she should have been released, Parada was interviewed by an ICE agent. Despite asking about her rights, the Anoka County jail refused to advise Parada that she could refuse to speak with immigration officials. After she should have been released from state custody, immigration officials issued a warrant for her arrest based on her immigration status and was sent to Ramsey County jail to be held in their immigration detention facility. Parada's family was not informed of her release until several hours after she had been taken away from ICE. Both the Anoka County jail and Coon Rapids Police Department treated Parada as an immigration detainee on suspicion and her imprisonment was in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
ACLU of Minnesota argues that the client's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. The Fourth Amendment does not permit officers to detain and imprison individuals based on immigration violations as they have no probable cause of a crime. Profiling individuals, as Coon Rapids Police Department and the Anoka County Sheriff's Department, profiled Parada, based on race and/or national origin is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
ATTORNEY(S)
Alain Baudry and Amanda Cefalu of Kutak Rock LLP, along with Ian Bratlie and Teresa Nelson of the ACLU-MN.
