U.S. Citizen in Immigration Custody for 7 Months Sues Government
The Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday that Army veteran Rennison Castillo sued the Federal government because officials from the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (USICE) kept him in their custody despite his requests for officials to verify his claim as a U.S. citizen.
Ultimately, attorneys from the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project managed to present evidence to confirm Mr. Castillo’s citizenship. Once the evidence proved his claim to U.S. citizenship, he was released from immigration custody.
Mr. Castillo was held by immigration authorities sometime in 2005 while doing routine questioning of suspected foreign nationals who are completing prison sentences to determine whether they are subject to deportation. In fact, he was completing an 8 month sentence for a minor conviction.
Mr. Castillo claimed that he is a U.S. citizen and not subject to deportation. He claimed to have been born in Belize, became a permanent resident when he 7 years old, and became a naturalized citizen in 1998 while serving in the U.S. Army.
It turns out that his claim to U.S. citizenship couldn’t be verified so easily because his immigration files listed two names and numerous misspelled versions of his first and last name. Additionally, he didn’t have any immediate relatives who could verify his identity.
In light of his ordeal, Mr. Castillo in his lawsuit is seeking monetary damages, and an apology, for the Federal government to be held accountable for its actions against him and, to ensure that this does not happen to any U.S. citizen again.
We will wait and see the outcome of Mr. Castillo’s case and sincerely hope that the government takes the extra precautions to determine who is deportable.
