How this headline may connect to industries in Alabama. Technical scores are below — click any ? for what a metric means.
Judge says Baldwin County worker can sue DHS over repeated detentions, hearing set.Judge says Baldwin County worker can sue DHS over repeated detentions, hearing set MOBILE, Ala.(NBC 15) — The U.S.District Court in Mobile will hold a hearing Wednesday morning to consider whether to grant an injunction against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to Baldwin County constructor worker Leo Garcia Venegas.Leo has been repeatedly detained by immigration officers despite being a U.S.citizen with an Alabama issued REAL ID.His class action lawsuit was filed by the Institute for Justice (IJ).Leo was recently detained for a third time.According to his representation: in May and June of last year, Leo was detained by officers who entered his private job sites without warrants.Both times, officers refused to believe Leo was a citizen or recognize his REAL ID as proof of legal status.Then, just this month, officers followed Leo home and confronted him in his driveway.Even though Leo was trying to show officers his REAL ID, he was ripped from his car, tackled to the ground, handcuffed, shackled, and locked in the back of a car.Full story available in this court filing The lawsuit seeks to stop DHS officers from entering private property without warrants, to stop detaining workers based only on a demographic profile, and to immediately let workers go as soon as they present evidence of citizenship or legal presence.Tuesday, Chief District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock issued an order determining that Leo has legal standing to challenge DHS’s policies.At the hearing Wednesday, Leo and others will testify, as will a former superintendent of construction sites who witnessed these raids.Philip Lavoie, Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) of the Mobile, Alabama DHS Office, will testify on behalf of the government.