DENVER (KDVR) — A class action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Denver challenging a new Department of Homeland Security policy that exempts many immigrants from being eligible for bond hearings.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of Nestor Mendoza Gutierrez, a longtime Colorado resident and small business owner, who is now in federal immigration custody after living in the U.S. for over 26 years.
The ACLU said Mendoza Gutierrez has a DUI charge that he pleaded guilty to over 20 years ago, but otherwise does not have a criminal record.
The lawsuit says that the business owner and "hundreds of those similarly situated" are now classified as "seeking admission" to the U.S., despite years and sometimes decades spent living in the U.S. The suit says that on July 8, I