PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Dozens of attorneys are sending a letter to federal officials urging them to end the practice of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at courthouses in the wake of the detention of an asylum seeker in Portland.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine says 179 attorneys are sending the letter on Monday to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. It says such arrests at courthouses “undermine the fundamental constitutional guarantee” of the right to seek redress from the court system.
Federal immigration officers detained an asylum seeker in Portland on April 6 when he appeared in court to answer a drunken driving charge. An ICE spokesman said at the time that 28-year-old Abdi Ali had an “extensive” misdemeanor criminal history.
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