DETROIT – The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit this week demanding that Juan Manuel Lopez-Campos, a longtime Detroit resident and father of five U.S. citizens, be given a bond hearing so he can explain to a court why he is entitled to be released from immigration detention. Mr. Lopez-Campos has lived in the U.S. for 26 years, has many ties to his community and church, and has no criminal record. Yet, under the Trump administration, he’s been arrested, detained, and unlawfully refused the opportunity to be released on bond while his immigration case proceeds. Mr. Lopez-Campos has been in custody since June 25, when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation.
The petition, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, asserts that Mr. Lopez-Campos, a native of Mexico, is illegally being denied his right to a bond hearing in connection with a policy issued by the Trump administration on July 8. The U.S. Constitution and immigration laws affords people in Mr. Lopez-Campos' position – those who have been residing in the U.S. for years and decades – the opportunity to go before a judge and explain why they should be free on bond while their immigration case proceeds through the court system, a process that could take months or years. The result is that Mr. Lopez-Campos – and thousands of people like him with strong ties to their families and the communities they contribute to – remain wrongfully locked up.
This change reverses decades of government policy and practice.
The lawsuit names as defendants the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), and Kevin Raycraft, acting director of the Detroit Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The lawsuit primarily seeks a judicial writ ordering Mr. Lopez-Campos' immediate release from custody or, in the alternative, providing him with a bond hearing within 7 days.
Ramis J. Wadood, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, said this about the case:
“What’s happening to Mr. Lopez-Campos, and to immigrants like him, is clearly illegal and defies decades of past government practice. It is also unquestionably cruel, not only to him, but to his loved ones and community as well. Instead of being able to continue supporting his family and contributing to his local community, which he has been doing for 26 years, the government is trying to lock him up for months – or even years, depending on how his immigration case plays out. Along with all the other financial and emotional hardships his illegal detention creates, it is also time taken from him and his family that can never be returned. Justice, and basic human decency, demand that the government stop now.”
Shahad Atiya, Mr. Lopez-Campos's immigration lawyer and a cooperating attorney with the ACLU, said this about the case:
"DHS is stepping outside of the bounds of its legal authority. It’s our job as human rights defenders to hold it accountable. We must work together to defend the Constitution and get Mr. Lopez-Campos home to his family."
Read the petition here.
View Ramis Wadood’s video statement here.