November 20, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Robert Rubin\Susan Serrano
               415-543-9444

FEDERAL COURTS APPROVE SETTLEMENTS AWARDING $150,000
FOR FALSE ARRESTS OF US CITIZEN AND LEGAL IMMIGRANT

Federal and local officials have been forced to pay $150,000 for their unlawful arrests of a US citizen and legal immigrant. In one instance, an African-American woman was handcuffed and shackled for 5 hours at the airport while immigration authorities first disparaged her assertion that she was a doctor before ridiculing her claim of citizenship. In the other case, a schizophrenic legal immigrant was imprisoned for two weeks awaiting deportation in a remote prison before authorities finally conceded that there had been no basis for his arrest or detention.   Dr. Chima Obi (not her real name), a medical doctor, was detained by INS officials in July 1999 at the San Francisco International Airport despite having presented a valid US passport. Born in Redwood City, Dr. Obi was returning from Nigeria when her citizenship and professional status were ridiculed by INS officials. Officials humiliated her by handcuffing and shackling her at the leg as they interrogated her for 5 hours. Her husband, who sought to present her US birth certificate and California drivers' license, also was humiliated by officials who told him that he needed to be careful because "these Nigerians will do anything to get an American husband." Dr. Obi's husband is also of Nigerian descent. The United States agreed to pay her $50,000 in damages.   Legal resident Ismael Soto-Torres was reporting to his probation officer when local and federal officials conspired to arrest him for allegedly being an undocumented alien. Mr. Soto-Torres, who suffers from schizophrenia, had no idea where he was being taken while his family feared that he had been deported to Mexico where he would be alone and vulnerable. The arresting officer, described in sworn testimony by his Border Patrol partner as a "pit bull," recklessly prepared the arrest warrant without verifying the most elemental facts. Clearly nondeportable, Mr. Soto-Torres languished in fear for two weeks before INS officials could finally be convinced to release him.The settlement awards $100,000 to him and his mother (who witnessed her son being taken away).   These two matters are part of a legal attack that the Lawyers' Committee has launched against unlawful arrest practices and wrongful deportations by INS officials in the Bay Area.  In addition to these two settlements, the Lawyers' Committee has filed three other actions against federal officials for wrongfully deporting persons who were lawfully present in this country.  Robert Rubin, LCCR Legal Director, said: “We hope that these significant damage awards will begin to reform the rogue arrest practices that are so prevalent among INS agents.”

Joining as co-counsel and providing extensive pro bono assistance were two San Francisco law firms: Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe (Soto-Torres) and Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass (Chima Obi).