Feds, Metro Nashville Settle Claims That Undocumented Immigrants’ Arrests Were Illegal

Federal immigration authorities and the city of Nashville have settled a lawsuit over a raid at an apartment complex in 2010.

The ACLU says the case sends a signal that mass roundups of undocumented immigrants are not legal. 

The litigation stems from a raid that took place in the Clairmont Apartments, a complex near Nashville International Airport, in October nearly five years ago.

Metro Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at the time that they they were acting on a tip that two Hispanic gangs were terrorizing residents. But Andre Segura, an attorney with the ACLU, says even those suspicions didn’t give authorities any right to go into apartments without warrants and make arrests.

“That would never give officers … any justification to just stop individuals that they happened to come across or enter any homes.”

Such raids don’t appear to be common nationwide. But Segura says the settlement sends a strong message that they’re illegal.

The ACLU also said in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee that its clients were subjected to racial profiling, epithets and excessive force.

Immigration authorities and city officials deny the allegations. They say they settled the case simply to save taxpayers the expense of fighting it out in court.

The ACLU represented 14 people arrested in the raid. Federal authorities agreed to pay them $300,000 in damages. Metro Nashville will pay a total of $10,000 — $5,000 for each of the two officers named in the suit as defendants.

The plaintiffs were also granted deferred action status for seven years, meaning they can’t be deported before then.