Woman Taken in Omaha ICE Raid Challenges Ongoing Detention via ACLU Lawsuit

LINCOLN, Neb. — An Omaha woman is turning to the court system in hope of being able to leave the custody of immigration authorities and reunite with her family.

Yesterday evening, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against federal and local officials on behalf of Maria Reynosa Jacinto, a single mother who has been working in the United States for 20 years to support herself and her daughter, a U.S. citizen.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Reynosa Jacinto in June’s Omaha Glenn Valley Foods worksite raid. She is currently in custody four hours away from home at Lincoln County Detention Center in North Platte despite the fact that a judge granted her release on bond more than two weeks ago. On July 15, an Omaha immigration court judge set Reynosa Jacinto’s bond at $9,000. When the Prairielands Freedom Fund tried to post bond for her, they learned ICE had issued an automatic stay on her release, blocking her bond from being posted.

Yesterday’s filing argues that ICE's automatic stay unlawfully violates the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment and extends beyond ICE’s authority by overriding an immigration court judge’s individualized decision on bond, making any considerations of danger or flight risk meaningless, and allowing lengthy and potentially indefinite detention. “There is no due process when the government, who lost the argument in court, gets to do what they want anyway,” the lawsuit reads in part.

The lawsuit links the automatic stay to ICE’s new “interim guidance” that asserts nearly all detained immigrants in removal proceedings are ineligible for release on bond. The new no-bond practice is facing a class action lawsuit brought by the ACLU’s national office and other immigrants’ rights advocates.

Reynosa Jacinto’s lawsuit seeks a court order securing her release on bond or alternatively an order to show cause, which would require immigration officials to demonstrate that their actions are lawful if they seek to continue her detention.

Speaking through a Qʼanjobʼal interpreter, Reynosa Jacinto said she has faced many difficulties and made sacrifices over the years in search of work and safety. She is suffering in detention, especially given the distance from her daughter, and hopes to be released on bond soon.

Andrea Rafael Reynosa, the plaintiff’s 19-year-old daughter, said:

“I was in shock when my mom was detained, and it’s been incredibly hard since then. This is the longest that I’ve ever been apart from her. It’s just us two and she’s always been there for me, working hard to provide a better life for us both. It really makes me emotional that she’s still where she is and I’m here by myself even though she should have been out weeks ago. I’m hoping with all my heart that the right thing is going to happen, and we’ll be reunited soon.”

Jennifer Houlden, acting legal director at the ACLU of Nebraska, said:

“For decades, this automatic stay provision was used only in the rarest of cases, and for good reason: it halts an immigration court judge’s bond order instantly without any reason particular to the person and without any opportunity for them to be heard on the issue. We all have a right to due process under the law, including immigrant community members. The use of an automatic stay in situations like our client’s clearly violates that right. I am hopeful this case can correct this injustice, give our client a chance to post bond as the judge granted, and get her back with her daughter where she belongs.”

Like many of the people taken in the recent Omaha ICE raid, Reynosa Jacinto has no criminal convictions and was the primary earner for her family.

More than 20 of Reynosa Jacinto’s coworkers remain in detention. Last week, an ACLU of Nebraska client left ICE custody almost two weeks after posting bond after officials acknowledged "an oversight” in his case.