Roxana Santos, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, claims in a federal lawsuit that sheriff deputies in Maryland’s Frederick County http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?storyID=97600 - unlawfully and unconstitutionally detained and interrogated her based solely on her race or ethnicity. By doing so the officers violated the Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to the complaint. 

Santos was approached by deputies about a year ago as she sat on a curb behind a food co-op during a lunch break. When the officers asked for identification she initially said she had none but subsequently provided a Salvadoran national identification card which is not valid in the U.S. Deputies booked her and she was later transferred to a Maryland immigration detention center.

Santos was granted supervised release for “humanitarian purposes” and lives at an “undisclosed location in the United States” with her family. She seeks at least $1 million in damages and asserts that federal law does not allow state or local police to enforce immigration laws. The complaint also names the Frederick Board of County Commissioners and federal immigration officials as defendants. 

Less than a month ago a group of illegal immigrants in Connecticut http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/oct/illegal-aliens-sue-ice-over-arrests - sued the federal agents that arrested them, claiming their constitutional rights were violated in the raids that led to their apprehension. A judge had previously blocked their deportation, ruling that their constitutional rights were “egregiously violated” because immigration agents entered their apartments without a warrant, probable cause or consent. Now they stand to get money from the government. 

Just last week five http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/nov/u-s-gives-illegal-alien-muslims-1-26-million - Muslim illegal immigrants detained in New York after Middle Eastern terrorists attacked the area won $1.26 million from the U.S. government to settle a lawsuit accusing federal authorities of violating their rights. The illegal aliens were among 170 Arab and Muslim men jailed for immigration law violations in New York during post 9/11 roundups and most have been deported. 

A few years ago hundreds of illegal immigrants, represented by a nonprofit agency largely funded by American taxpayers, http://www.judicialwatch.org/http%3A//www.corruptionchronicles.com/2007/05/illegal_immigrants_sue_us_govt.html - sued the U.S. government following a raid at a Massachusetts factory. The illegal aliens accused the government of acting in bad faith by moving them to Texas and denying them adequate access to lawyers.