FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2007

CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898

Albuquerque—Truck driver Anastasio Prieto wants his $23,700 back, and the ACLU has pledged to help him.

On August 8, 2007, Prieto pulled into a weigh-station on NM Highway 54, north of El Paso, where a state police officer asked if he could search Prieto’s truck and if it contained “needles or cash in excess of ten thousand dollars.”  Prieto consented to the search and replied that, while he did not have any needles, he did have nearly $24,000 in his possession.

To Prieto’s astonishment, officers took his money and turned it over federal Drug Enforcement Administration officials.  Border Patrol agents searched the truck with drug-sniffing dogs but found no evidence of illicit substances.

Nevertheless, DEA agents photographed and fingerprinted Prieto, despite his objections, then sent him on his way, without his money and without any criminal charges against him.

Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed civil rights claims on Prieto’s behalf against three state and three federal officers regarding the incident.

“The government took Mr. Prieto’s money as surely as if he had been robbed on a street corner at night,” said Peter Simonson, Executive Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico.  “In fact, being robbed might have been better.  At least then the police would have treated him as the victim of a crime instead of as a perpetrator.”

DEA agents informed Prieto that he will receive notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within thirty days.  To recuperate the funds, Prieto will need to prove in an administrative hearing that the money truly is his, and that it did not derive from illegal drug sales.  Agents told Prieto that the process would probably take a year.

“Mr. Prieto doesn’t have a year,” Simonson said.  “He needs the money back now—to pay bills, to maintain his truck.  We’re insisting that the government give the money back immediately and that it purges all records of Mr. Prieto from the DEA’s files.”

ACLU attorneys Cid Lopez, George Bach, and Maureen Sanders filed the suit in federal court.

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Related Documents:

Prieto Complaint

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2007

CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898

LAS CRUCES, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico has named Maria Nape as the Director of a new ACLU office, located in the border town of Las Cruces, New Mexico, which will defend civil rights, especially of immigrants, in the border region.  Nape has a law degree and years of experience advocating for the rights of migrant farmworkers.

“I am thrilled to head up such an exciting and timely initiative for the ACLU,” Nape said.  “The intensification of law enforcement on the border and growing reactionary attitudes towards immigrants around the country make the ACLU’s new border rights office a vital effort.  I look forward to learning from other border groups how we can complement their work and help create an effective civil rights presence throughout the border corridor.”

Prior to joining the ACLU, Nape spent five years advocating for the rights of migrant farmworkers as Director of the Migrant Farmworker Project at Legal Services Organization of Indiana and as Executive Director of the Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County, Florida.  She received her law degree from Indiana University and most recently served on the faculty of Florida Atlantic University’s School of Public Administration.

“Maria is a tremendous addition to our organization,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “Her combination of legal experience and familiarity with the plight of immigrants will enable her to effectively lead the ACLU’s efforts in this new endeavor.  We look forward to bolstering the presence of the ACLU in communities all along the border.”

When fully outfitted, the new ACLU office will house a staff of three who, in tandem with the National ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, support the border rights work of ACLU affiliates in Texas, Arizona, and San Diego.  The office is part of a state-wide expansion of the ACLU of New Mexico’s facilities and a National ACLU plan to raise the capacity of ACLU affiliates in the middle part of the country to equal that of affiliates on the wealthier and more populous coasts.

Nape said, “Current reactionary laws against immigrants are not working.  Nowhere is this more true than on the border.  People are searched, deported, and sometimes even assaulted on the presumption that they are immigrants and in this country illegally.  The goal of our border office is to combat these un-American practices and ensure that fairness and the promise of the Bill of Rights extends to everyone in the border region, regardless of their nation of origin.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003 Cell (505) 507 9898

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Questions surrounding recent immigration sweeps in Santa Fe motivated the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico to request all records surrounding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions in New Mexico.  A February 28th story in the Santa Fe New Mexican indicated that ICE may have entered immigrant homes illegally. Immigrant rights groups received complaints about racial profiling, local police involvement in ICE operations, and constitutional violations.

“In its zeal to hunt down people who were living and working in Santa Fe,” ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson said, “ICE may have over stepped the bounds of law and good judgment.  The FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request that we are submitting today will help us understand how the raids were organized and what safeguards were put in place to ensure that civil rights were respected.  Once we have that information in hand, we can determine whether or not our further action is warranted.”

The Santa Fe sweeps appear to have been part of a nationwide strategy dubbed “Operation Return to Sender” that produced raids and raised alarm in other cities around the country.  Last week the ACLU of Northern California sought records from ICE after abusive practices in San Francisco and nearby areas were reported extensively in the press, including illegal entries, conducting round-ups near schools, and leaving minor children unattended upon parents’ arrest.

Simonson said, “Nationwide, the ICE raids exhibit a pattern of recklessness and disregard, not just for basic civil rights, but also for the fundamental welfare of families that are broken apart by these operations.  The ACLU isn’t disputing whether or not ICE can enforce immigration laws, we just want to make sure that they are doing it in a fair and humane way.”

The ACLU is requesting expedited processing of the FOIA request in order to head off possible civil rights problems in future raids.

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