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U.S. District Court District of Vermont (Rutland) CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 5:18-cv-00192-gwc

CLOSED,ENE0

Migrant Justice et al v. Nielsen et al Assigned to: Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford Cause: 28:2671 Federal Tort Claims Act

Date Filed: 11/14/2018 Date Terminated: 10/28/2020 Jury Demand: None Nature of Suit: 440 Civil Rights: Other Jurisdiction: U.S. Government Defendant

Plaintiff

Migrant Justice a Vermont corporation, on its own behalf and on behalf of its members

represented by Amanda M. Aycock , Esq. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166-0193 (212) 351-2356 Fax: (212) 351-6355 Email: aaycock@gibsondunn.com PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Angelo R. Guisado , Esq. Center for Constitutional Rights 666 Broadway, 7th Floor New York, NY 10012 (212) 614-6454 Fax: (212) 614-6499 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Ghita R. Schwarz , Esq. Center for Constitutional Rights 666 Broadway, 7th Floor New York, NY 10012 (212) 614-6445 Fax: (212) 614-6499 Email: gschwarz@ccrjustice.org PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Guadalupe V. Aguirre , Esq. Center for Constitutional Rights 666 Broadway, 7th Floor New York, NY 10012

(212) 614-6439 Fax: (212) 614-6499 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Jaclyn M. Neely , Esq. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166-0193 (212) 351-2692 Fax: (212) 716-0892 Email: JNeely@gibsondunn.com PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
James M. Diaz , Esq. ACLU Foundation of Vermont P.O. Box 277 Montpelier, VT 05601-0277 (802) 223-6304 Email: jdiaz@acluvt.org ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joel M. Cohen , Esq. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166-0193 (212) 351-2664 Fax: (212) 351-5264. PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. National Immigration Law Center 3450 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 108-62 Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 639-3900 Fax: (213) 639-3911 Email: rosenthal@nilc.org TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua Stehlik , Esq. National Immigration Law Center 3450 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 108-62 Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 639-3900

Plaintiff Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez

Fax: (213) 639-3911 Email: stehlik@nilc.org PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Lia N. Ernst , Esq. ACLU Foundation of Vermont P.O. Box 277 Montpelier, VT 05601-0277 (802) 223-6304 Fax: (802) 223-6304 Email: lernst@acluvt.org ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Max Wolson , Esq. National Immigration Law Center P.O. Box 24573 Washington, DC 20043-4573 (202) 216-0261 Fax: (202) 216-0266 Email: Wolson@nilc.org PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Sarah Kim Pak , Esq. National Immigration Law Center 3450 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 108-62 Los Angeles, CA 90010 (213) 639-3900 Fax: (213) 639-3911 Email: kimpak@nilc.org PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Trudy S. Rebert , Esq. National Immigration Law Center P.O. Box 721361 Jackson Heights, NY 11372-1361 (646) 867-8793 Fax: (213) 639-3911 Email: rebert@nilc.org PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Amanda M. Aycock , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Angelo R. Guisado , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Ghita R. Schwarz , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Guadalupe V. Aguirre , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Jaclyn M. Neely , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
James M. Diaz , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joel M. Cohen , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. (See above for address) TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua Stehlik , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Lia N. Ernst , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Max Wolson , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE

Plaintiff Zully Palacios Rodriguez

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Sarah Kim Pak , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Trudy S. Rebert , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Amanda M. Aycock , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Angelo R. Guisado , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Ghita R. Schwarz , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Guadalupe V. Aguirre , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Jaclyn M. Neely , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
James M. Diaz , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joel M. Cohen , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. (See above for address)

Plaintiff Jose Victor Garcia Diaz

TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua Stehlik , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Lia N. Ernst , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Max Wolson , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Sarah Kim Pak , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Trudy S. Rebert , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Amanda M. Aycock , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Angelo R. Guisado , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Ghita R. Schwarz , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Guadalupe V. Aguirre , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Plaintiff
Miguel Alcudia Gamas TERMINATED: 02/07/2019

Jaclyn M. Neely , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
James M. Diaz , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joel M. Cohen , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. (See above for address) TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua Stehlik , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Lia N. Ernst , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Max Wolson , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Sarah Kim Pak , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Trudy S. Rebert , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Amanda M. Aycock , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Angelo R. Guisado , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Ghita R. Schwarz , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Guadalupe V. Aguirre , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Jaclyn M. Neely , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
James M. Diaz , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joel M. Cohen , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. (See above for address) TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Joshua Stehlik , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Lia N. Ernst , Esq. (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Trudy S. Rebert , Esq. (See above for address) PRO HAC VICE

V. Defendant Kirstjen Nielsen Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) TERMINATED: 05/31/2019
Defendant Ronald Vitiello Deputy/Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) TERMINATED: 05/31/2019
Defendant Matthew Albence Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA United States Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York 271 Cadman Plaza, East Brooklyn, NY 11201 Email: alex.weinberg@usdoj.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Owen C.J. Foster , AUSA United States Attorney's Office District of Vermont P.O. Box 570 Burlington, VT 05402-0570 (802) 951-6725 Email: Owen.C.J.Foster@usdoj.gov TERMINATED: 02/22/2019 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA United States Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York 271 Cadman Plaza, East Brooklyn, NY 11201 Email: rachel.balaban@usdoj.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Owen C.J. Foster , AUSA (See above for address) TERMINATED: 02/22/2019 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Defendant Wanda Minoli Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner TERMINATED: 01/21/2020
Defendant United States of America
Defendant Kevin McAleenan Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Home Security
Defendant

Owen C.J. Foster , AUSA (See above for address) TERMINATED: 02/22/2019 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Joshua A. Rosenthal , Esq. (See above for address) TERMINATED: 05/17/2019 PRO HAC VICE ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Kate T. Gallagher Office of the Attorney General 109 State Street Montpelier, VT 05609-1001 802-828-1300 Email: kate.gallagher@vermont.gov ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Owen C.J. Foster , AUSA (See above for address) TERMINATED: 02/22/2019 ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Nathalie Asher ICE/DHS Executive Associate Directly, Enforcement and Removal Operations
ENE Evaluator Michael J Marks

represented by Alex Weinberg , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED
Rachel Balaban , AUSA (See above for address) ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

Date Filed 11/14/2018
11/14/2018 12/24/2018 12/26/2018 01/08/2019 01/09/2019 01/09/2019
01/09/2019

#

Docket Text

1 COMPLAINT against Matthew Albence, Wanda Minoli, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello filed by Migrant Justice, Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Zully Palacios Rodriguez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Miguel Alcudia Gamas. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet) (esb) Filers clarified on 11/14/2018 (law). (Entered: 11/14/2018)

ISSUED Summons as to Matthew Albence; Kirstjen Nielsen; United States of America (U.S. Attorney D-VT); Ronald Vitiello.(kac) (Entered: 11/14/2018)

2 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 1 Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 12/24/2018)

3 ORDER granting 2 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer 1 Complaint. Wanda Minoli answer due 2/28/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 12/26/2018. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 12/26/2018)

4 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer filed by Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello.(Foster, Owen) Event/text clarified on 1/9/2019 (law). (Entered: 01/08/2019)

5 WAIVER OF SERVICE Returned Executed: Wanda Minoli waiver sent on 11/14/2018.(Ernst, Lia) Date waiver sent clarified on 1/9/2019 (law). (Entered: 01/09/2019)

6 SUMMONS Returned Executed. Matthew Albence served on 11/19/2018, answer due 1/18/2019; Kirstjen Nielsen served on 11/19/2018, answer due 1/18/2019; United States of America served on 11/19/2018, answer due 1/18/2019; Ronald Vitiello served on 11/19/2018, answer due 1/18/2019. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit F) (Ernst, Lia) (Entered: 01/09/2019)

7 STIPULATION AND ORDER for an Extension of Deadline to Respond to 1 Complaint. Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United

01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019 01/10/2019

States of America, Ronald Vitiello answers due 2/28/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 1/9/2019. (law) (Entered: 01/09/2019)
8 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Joshua A. Rosenthal filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Wanda Minoli, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Joshua A. Rosenthal, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
9 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Ghita R. Schwarz filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Ghita Schwarz, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing) (jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
10 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Angelo R. Guisado filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Angelo R. Guisado, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
11 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Guadalupe V. Aguirre filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Guadalupe Aguirre, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
12 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Amanda M. Aycock filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Amanda M. Aycock, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
13 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Joel M. Cohen filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Joel M. Cohen, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
14 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Jaclyn M. Neely filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Jaclyn M. Neely)(jlh) (Additional attachment(s) added on 1/14/2019: # 2 Certificate of Good Standing) (jlh). (Entered: 01/14/2019)
15 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Trudy S. Rebert filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Trudy S. Rebert, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing) (jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)

01/10/2019 01/14/2019
01/30/2019 01/31/2019 01/31/2019 02/01/2019 02/07/2019 02/22/2019 02/26/2019 02/26/2019

16 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Joshua Stehlik filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Joshua Stehlik, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing)(jlh) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
17 ORDER granting 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 and 16 MOTIONS for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Joshua A. Rosenthal, Ghita R. Schwarz, Angelo R. Guisado, Guadalupe V. Aguirre, Amanda M. Aycock, Joel M. Cohen, Jaclyn M. Neely, Trudy S. Rebert and Joshua Stehlik. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 1/14/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 01/14/2019)
18 JOINT MOTION to Stay deadline for submission of discovery schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Ernst, Lia) (Entered: 01/30/2019)
19 ORDER granting 18 MOTION to Stay Deadline for the Submission of a Discovery Schedule. Deadline for Discovery Schedule is now due March 18, 2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 1/31/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
20 UNOPPOSED MOTION to Amend 1 Complaint filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Miguel Alcudia Gamas, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Redlined Proposed Amended Complaint, # 2 Proposed Amended Complaint) (Ernst, Lia) (Entered: 01/31/2019)
21 ORDER granting 20 MOTION to Amend 1 Complaint. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 2/1/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 02/01/2019)
22 FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT against Matthew Albence, Wanda Minoli, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Migrant Justice, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (esb) (Entered: 02/07/2019)
23 NOTICE of Attorney Substitution by Owen C.J. Foster, AUSA as to Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello(Foster, Owen) (Entered: 02/22/2019)
24 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer, MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Discovery Schedule filed by Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello. (Balaban, Rachel) (Entered: 02/26/2019)
25 ORDER granting 24 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer 22 Amended Complaint. Matthew Albence answer due 4/30/2019; Kirstjen Nielsen answer due 4/30/2019; United States of America answer due 4/30/2019; Ronald Vitiello answer due 4/30/2019; and granting 24 Motion for Extension of Time to File Joint Discovery Schedule. Joint Discovery Schedule due May 15, 2019. Signed by

02/27/2019 02/27/2019 03/26/2019 03/26/2019 03/29/2019 04/02/2019
04/18/2019 04/18/2019
04/22/2019

Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 2/26/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 02/26/2019)
26 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) Modified on 3/1/2019 (jlh). (Entered: 02/27/2019)
27 ORDER granting 26 Motion for Extension of Time to Answer 22 Amended Complaint and for submission of the Discovery Schedule. Wanda Minoli answer due 4/1/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 2/27/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 02/27/2019)
28 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Max Wolson filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Max Wolson, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 Certificate of Service) (jlh) (Entered: 03/28/2019)
29 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Sarah K. Pak filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Sarah Kim Pak, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 Certificate of Service)(jlh) (Entered: 03/28/2019)
30 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 03/29/2019)
31 ORDER granting 28 MOTION for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Max Wolson; granting 29 MOTION for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Sarah Kim Pak; and granting 30 MOTION for Extension of Time to File
Answer re 22 Amended Complaint. Wanda Minoli answer due 5/31/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 4/2/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 04/02/2019)
32 SECOND MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer and SECOND MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Discovery Schedule filed by Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America, Ronald Vitiello.(Weinberg, Alex). (Main Document 32 replaced on 4/19/2019) (jlh). (Entered: 04/18/2019)
33 NOTICE OF DOCKET ENTRY CORRECTION re: 32 SECOND MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer and SECOND MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Discovery Schedule filed by Ronald Vitiello, Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America. The document has been replaced to be in a format that complies with Local Rules. The corrected document is now attached to 32 as well as this entry. (jlh) (Entered: 04/18/2019)
34 ORDER granting 32 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer. Matthew Albence, Kirstjen Nielsen, United States of America and

05/17/2019 05/17/2019 05/29/2019 05/30/2019 05/31/2019 06/13/2019 06/14/2019 06/14/2019
06/24/2019 06/25/2019
07/26/2019

Ronald Vitiello answers due 5/31/2019; granting 32 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Joint Discovery Schedule. Joint Discovery Schedule due June 14, 2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 4/22/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 04/22/2019)
35 MOTION to Withdraw as Attorney for Joshua A. Rosenthal filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Rosenthal, Joshua) (Entered: 05/17/2019)
36 ORDER granting 35 MOTION to Withdraw as Attorney for Joshua A. Rosenthal. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 5/17/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 05/17/2019)
37 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 05/29/2019)
38 ORDER granting 37 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer. Wanda Minoli answer due 7/15/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 5/30/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 05/30/2019)
39 ANSWER to 22 Amended Complaint by Matthew Albence, Kevin McAleenan, United States of America, Nathalie Asher.(Weinberg, Alex) Parties clarified on 6/3/2019 (law). (Entered: 05/31/2019)
40 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 06/13/2019)
41 ORDER granting 40 MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule. Time extended to July 26, 2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 6/14/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 06/14/2019)
42 MOTION for Appearance Pro Hac Vice of Claudia Wilner filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez. (Attachments: # 1 Declaration of Claudia Wilner, # 2 Certificate of Good Standing, # 3 Certificate of Service) (jlh) (Entered: 06/19/2019)
43 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 06/24/2019)
44 ORDER granting 42 MOTION for Admission Pro Hac Vice of Claudia Wilner; and granting 43 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer 22
Amended Complaint. Wanda Minoli answer due 8/14/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 6/25/2019. (This is a textonly Order.) (jal) (Entered: 06/25/2019)
45 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22

07/26/2019 07/29/2019
09/09/2019 09/10/2019 10/07/2019 10/09/2019 11/12/2019 11/12/2019 12/12/2019 12/12/2019 01/16/2020

Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 07/26/2019)
46 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 07/26/2019)
47 ORDER granting 45 Motion for Extension of Time to Answer 22 Amended Complint. Wanda Minoli answer due 9/13/2019; granting 46 Motion for Extension of Time to File Discovery Schedule. Time extended to seven (7) business days after Answer received from Defendant Minoli. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 7/29/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 07/29/2019)
48 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 09/09/2019)
49 ORDER granting 48 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer re 22
Amended Complaint. Wanda Minoli answer due 10/14/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 9/10/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 09/10/2019)
50 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 10/07/2019)
51 ORDER granting 50 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer. Wanda Minoli answer due 11/14/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 10/9/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 10/09/2019)
52 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 11/12/2019)
53 ORDER granting 52 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer re 22
Amended Complaint. Wanda Minoli answer due 12/16/2019. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 11/12/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 11/12/2019)
54 STIPULATED MOTION for Extension of Time to File Answer re 22
Amended Complaint filed by Wanda Minoli.(Gallagher, Kate) (Entered: 12/12/2019)
55 ORDER granting 54 MOTION for Extension of Time to Answer. Wanda Minoli answer due 1/25/2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 12/12/2019. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 12/12/2019)
56 REPORT of Early Neutral Evaluator. (Attachments: # 1 Certificate of Service)(Marks, Michael) (Entered: 01/16/2020)

01/21/2020 01/24/2020 01/27/2020 03/12/2020 03/13/2020 05/12/2020 05/13/2020 07/13/2020 07/13/2020 09/11/2020 09/25/2020

57 STIPULATION of Dismissal With Prejudice as to Wanda Minoli by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez (Ernst, Lia) Text clarified on 1/21/2020 (jlh). (Entered: 01/21/2020)
58 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 01/24/2020)
59 ORDER granting 58 MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule. Time extended to March 13, 2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 1/27/2020. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 01/27/2020)
60 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 03/12/2020)
61 ORDER granting 60 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule. Time extended to May 12, 2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 3/13/2020. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 03/13/2020)
62 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 05/12/2020)
63 ORDER granting 62 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Discovery Schedule. Time extended to July 13, 2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 5/13/2020. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 05/13/2020)
64 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 07/13/2020)
65 ORDER granting 64 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Discovery Schedule. Time extended to September 11, 2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 7/13/2020. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 07/13/2020)
66 JOINT MOTION for Extension of Time to File a Discovery Schedule filed by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez.(Aycock, Amanda) (Entered: 09/11/2020)
67 ORDER granting 66 MOTION for Extension of Time to File Discovery Schedule. Time extended to November 10, 2020. Signed by Chief Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford on 9/25/2020. (This is a text-only Order.) (jal) (Entered: 09/25/2020)

10/28/2020

68 STIPULATION of Dismissal With Prejudice by Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, Jose Victor Garcia Diaz, Migrant Justice, Zully Palacios Rodriguez (Ernst, Lia) (Entered: 10/28/2020)

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 Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 1 of 41

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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2

DISTRICT OF VERMONT

3 MIGRANT JUSTICE, a Vermont corporation, on its own behalf and on behalf of its members;
4 JOSE ENRIQUE BALCAZAR SANCHEZ; ZULLY PALACIOS RODRIGUEZ; JOSE
5 VICTOR GARCIA DIAZ; MIGUEL ALCUDIA GAMAS;
6
Plaintiffs, 7
v. 8
KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, Secretary of the U.S. 9 Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
RONALD VITIELLO, Deputy/Acting 10 Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE); MATTHEW ALBENCE, 11 ICE/DHS Executive Associate Director,
Enforcement and Removal Operations; 12 WANDA MINOLI, Vermont Department of
Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner; 13 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;

14

Defendants.

15

Case No.

16 INTRODUCTION

17

1. Migrant Justice organizes and advocates for Vermont's immigrant farmworkers-a

18 community of approximately 1,500 people who labor long hours under grueling and often dangerous

19 conditions. The organization has achieved remarkable success in organizing workers to assemble,

20 publicly protest, march, and assert their perspectives in the larger marketplace of commerce and

21 ideas. Migrant Justice's members have identified four core areas of organizational focus: dignified

22
work and quality housing, freedom of movement and access to transportation, freedom from

23 discrimination, and access to healthcare.

24

2.

In the course of its advocacy, Migrant Justice has loudly and publicly criticized U.S.

25 Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE'"). ICE has retaliated, and continues to retaliate, by

26
disrupting Plaintiffs' advocacy and infringing upon their First Amendment rights.

27

3.

ICE has infiltrated Migrant Justice's private meetings; targeted, surveilled, and

28
engaged in disinformation campaigns to sow distrust among its members; and arrested and/or

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 2 of 41

detained no fewer than twenty active Migrant Justice members, including the Individual Plaintiffs-

2 each of whom played and continues to play a critical role in Migrant Justice's advocacy.

3

4. ICE takes these actions because Plaintiffs are engaged in First Amendment activities

4 and to deter them and others from engaging in similar activity.

5

5. ICE advances its retaliatory agenda with the assistance of the Vermont Department of

6 Motor Vehicles ("DMV"). Motivated by racial and xenophobic animus, DMV employees give ICE

7 private driver information, including the personal information and location, of non-white,

8 predominately Latino, individuals.

9

6. ICE's actions have chilled and continue to chill Migrant Justice's ability to organize

IO and advocate for migrant workers. Fewer members attend community assemblies, events, protests,

11 and rallies. Migrant Justice finds it more difficult to enlist members to speak at public events. ICE

12 has also frustrated Migrant Justice's ability to advocate for fair labor practices and economic justice.

13 Time and money once dedicated to this mission are now used to advance funds towards immigration

14 bonds and attorneys' fees and to fight detentions of members.

15

7. As for the Individual Plaintiffs, not only has ICE chilled their speech and interfered

16 with their association, but ICE's surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention of them has caused

17 and continues to cause them significant emotional distress.

18

8. Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief to end Defendants' unlawful and

19 discriminatory practices, as well as monetary damages against the United States.

20

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

21

9. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 (federal

22 question), 1343 (civil rights), and 1346 (United States as Defendant), and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The

23 Court has authority to grant declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2201.

24

10. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) because a substantial part

25 of the events giving rise to Plaintiffs' claims occurred in this district, under 28 U.S.C. § l 39l(b)(l)

26 because the DMV is located in the district, and also under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e) because Defendants

27 Nielsen, Vitiello, and Albence are officers and employees of the United States or its agencies

28

2

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 3 of 41

1 operating under color oflaw, and a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the

2 claims have occurred and are occurring in this judicial district.

3

PARTIES

4

A. Plaintiffs

5

11. Plaintiff Migrant Justice, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that was

6 established in 2009. Migrant Justice's mission is "to build the voice, capacity, and power of the

7 farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human

8 rights. [Migrant Justice] gathers the farmworker community to discuss and analyze shared problems

9 and to envision collective solutions. Through this ongoing investment in leadership development,

10 members deepen their skills in community education and organizing for long-term systemic change.''

11 More than 90 percent of Migrant Justice members are Latino. Migrant Justice brings this lawsuit on

12 its own behalf, as well as on behalf of its members.

13

12. Plaintiff Jose Victor Garcia Diaz has been an active and visible Migrant Justice

14 member since 2013. He is a dairy worker in Vermont and a nationally-recognized human rights

15 leader. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz contacted Migrant Justice after enduring years of inhumane conditions

16 on a Vermont dairy fann. He became a leader in an effort by farmworkers and allies to march on the

17 Ferrisburgh farm that employed him and as a result won nearly $2,000 in back wages for dairy

18 workers. As a member of Migrant Justice's Farmworker Coordinating Committee, Plaintiff Garcia

19 Diaz helped build the Milk with Dignity Program, which seeks to establish fundamental labor

20 protections for the Vermont dairy worker community. To this end, Plaintiff Garcia Diaz represented

21 his community in meetings and negotiations with Ben & Jerry's, a prominent Vermont, national, and

22 international purchaser of dairy products, during the process of the company committing to join the

23 Milk with Dignity Program. He resides and has resided in Vermont during the events relevant to this

24 Complaint and is Latino.

25

13. Plaintiff Miguel Alcudia Gamas has been an active and visible Migrant Justice

26 member since 2014. He is a member of Migrant Justice's Farmworker Coordinating Committee, a

27 former dairy worker, and a public spokesperson for Migrant Justice's Milk with Dignity Program.

28 He participated in the successful campaign to secure a commitment from Ben & Jerry's to join the

3

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 4 of 41

Milk with Dignity Program. Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas plays a crucial role as a farmworker

2 spokesperson on Migrant Justice's education team, educating other workers about their rights and

3 raising the awareness of the public at large about the plight of immigrant workers. He has also

4 participated in region wide efforts to build connections between immigrant rights and racial justice

5 movements. He resides and has resided in Vermont during the events relevant to this Complaint and

6 is Latino.

7

14. Plaintiff Jose Enrique "Kike" Balcazar Sanchez has been an active and visible

8 Migrant Justice member since 2011. He is a leader with Migrant Justice and a former dairy worker.

9 He continues to be one of Migrant Justice's primary spokespeople. He was a lead spokesperson in its

10 campaign to expand access to driving privileges and for a fair and impartial policing policy to limit

11 law enforcement collaboration with ICE. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez was also one of the primary

12 architects of the Milk with Dignity Program. He helped lead the campaign that resulted in Ben &

13 Jerry's committing to join the Milk with Dignity Program in 2015, and he was central to securing

14 finalization of Ben & Jerry's commitment in 2017. He has appeared routinely in local and national

15 press coverage for several years. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez serves on the Vermont Attorney

16 General's Immigration Task Force, representing immigrant farmworkers, helping to craft a guidance

17 manual for Vermont cities and towns regarding their role in immigration law enforcement, and

18 advocating for policies to provide stronger protections for Vermont's immigrant communities. He

19 resides and has resided in Vermont during the events relevant to this Complaint and is Latino.

20

15. Plaintiff Zully Palacios Rodriguez has been an active and visible Migrant Justice

21 member since 2016. She was a vocal leader in Migrant Justice's women's group, which organizes

22 groups of women who are immigrant farmworkers. She became involved with Migrant Justice in

23 2016, aiding in a successful campaign to free then-detained Migrant Justice leader and co-Plaintiff

24 Garcia Diaz. She participated in the successful campaign to secure a commitment from Ben &

25 Jerry's to join the Milk with Dignity Program. Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez is involved in the

26 national movement for immigrant rights and food justice, representing Migrant Justice in gatherings

27 of the Food Chain Workers Alliance and the Cosecha Movement. She resides and has resided in

28 Vermont during the events relevant to this Complaint and is Latina.

4

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 5 of 41

B. Defendants 2 Federal Defendants

3

16. Defendant Kirstjen Nielsen is Secretary of the United States Department of

4 Homeland Security (''OHS"'). In this capacity, she is charged with enforcing and administering U.S.

5 immigration laws. She is sued in her official capacity.

6

17. Defendant Ronald Vitiello is the Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the

7 Duties of Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In this capacity, he is charged

8 with administering the enforcement of United States immigration law. He is sued in his official

9 capacity.

10

18. Defendant Matthew Albence is the Executive Associate Director of ICE's

11 Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO") and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy

12 Director. He is sued in his official capacity.

13

19. Defendants Nielsen, Vitiello, and Albence are collectively referred to herein as "DHS

14 Defendants.'· At all relevant times, DHS Defendants were acting under color of law, as agents,

15 employees, and/or representatives of the United States.

16

20. Defendant United States of America is sued for Plaintiffs' injuries caused by the

17 wrongful acts or omissions of its employees. Those employees were acting within the scope of their

18 employment under circumstances in which the United States, if a private person, would be liable to

19 Plaintiffs according to the laws of Vennont.

20 Vermont DMVDefendant

21

21. Defendant Wanda MinoIi is the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Motor

22 Vehicles. In this capacity, she is charged with enforcing and administering the regulations governing

23 the DMV, the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other

24 motor vehicles as well as licensing drivers in Vermont. At all relevant times, Defendant Minoli was

25 acting under color oflaw, as an agent, employee, and/or representative of Vermont. She is sued in

26 her official capacity.

27

22. Federal and DMV Defendants are collectively referred to herein as "Defendants.'·

28

5

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 6 of 41

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

2

A. Migrant Justice and Its Members Engage in Protected Speech, Win Changes that

3

Improve the Lives of Migrants, and Criticize ICE and the DMV.

23. Migrant Justice fights for the rights of the approximately 1,500 migrant farm workers 4

in Vermont. These workers typically work sixty to eighty hours per week, endure extreme isolation, 5

and are systemically excluded from many worker and housing rights protections.
6
24. Within the past decade, Migrant Justice's organizing and advocacy has focused on 7

improving working conditions at dairy farms across the state; partnering with the Vermont Workers' 8

Center to include undocumented people in Vermont's 2011 groundbreaking universal healthcare
9

legislation; winning tens of thousands of dollars in back wages through Migrant Justice's Workers' 10
Rights Hotline; and advocating for the Vermont Department of Labor to change employment law 11

related to collection of unpaid wages, among other activities. 12

13

1. Migrant Justice Improves Working Conditions Through the Milk with Dignity Program.

14

25. One example of Migrant Justice's visible, groundbreaking advocacy is its high-profile

15 Milk with Dignity Program, a farmworker-driven initiative to improve conditions in dairy supply

16 chains. The Program rests on a participatory model in which workers, farmers, consumers, and retail

17 corporations align values and work together to build a fair food system.

18

26. Starting in 2014, Migrant Justice focused its campaign for the Milk with Dignity

19 Program on ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's, an influential company headquartered within

20 Vermont that purchases vast amounts of milk from the local dairy-farming community.

21

27. In June 2015, after persistent public advocacy by Migrant Justice, Ben & Jerry's

22 signed a written commitment to negotiate an agreement with Migrant Justice to join the Milk with

23 Dignity Program. The New York Times heralded the commitment as an "innovative movement[] ...

24 to improve wages and working conditions.'' The Christian Science Monitor called the June 2015

25 agreement "an important agreement with Ben & Jerry's to recognize the fundamental human rights of

26 migrant workers in dairy supply chains.''

27

28. After signing the commitment, however, Ben & Jerry's delayed in signing a formal

28 agreement to join the Program. Migrant Justice and its members then engaged in more than two

6

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 7 of 41

years of advocacy, community organizing, and escalating public protest to win allies and increase

2 pressure on Ben & Jerry's. Finally, on October 3, 2017, Ben & Jerry's signed a formal agreement to

3 join Milk with Dignity.

4

2. Migrant Justice's First Amendment Activity Frustrates ICE's Agenda by

Protecting Migrant Workers from Deportation. 5

29. In 2011, Migrant Justice launched one of its first campaigns against an ICE policy.

6

Migrant Justice opposed ICE's Secure Communities Program, under which local law enforcement

7

shared fingerprints with ICE.

8

30. On August 18, 2011, Migrant Justice member Danilo Lopez hand-delivered a petition

9

signed by more than 70 farmworkers to then-Governor Peter Shumlin. The petition asked Governor

10

Shumlin to publicly ··say no" to Secure Communities because it ''threatens our security," "promotes

11

racial discrimination," and lacks transparency.

12

31. Three weeks later, Vermont state police stopped a car for speeding in which Lopez

13

was a passenger. Although he was not the driver and state police are not responsible for enforcing

14

immigration law, state police handed Lopez over to U.S. Border Patrol.

15

32. In response to Lopez's arrest, on September 13, 2011, Migrant Justice organized its

16

first protest against ICE for a member's detention. Migrant Justice alleged that the incident violated

17

the state police's existing bias-free policing policy and pushed the state government to adopt an

18

expanded bias-free policing policy. Governor Shumlin and the Vermont Human Rights Commission

19

opened separate investigations into Lopez's arrest.

20

33. Migrant Justice continued campaigning to prevent Lopez's deportation, urging ICE to

21

grant a stay ofremoval. Migrant Justice enlisted support from Vermont's entire Congressional

22

delegation-Senior United States Senator Patrick Leahy and Junior United States Senator Bernard

23

Sanders and United States Representative Peter Welch-as well as Governor Shumlin and Burlington

24

Mayor Miro Weinberger, all of whom wrote letters urging ICE to exercise its prosecutorial discretion
25

in Lopez's favor. ICE granted Lopez a stay ofremoval.
26

34. In November 2011, Governor Shumlin announced that the Vermont State Police had

27

adopted an expanded bias-free policing policy aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of

28

7

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 8 of 41

1 race, ethnicity, or immigration status. The expanded policy limited state involvement in federal

2 immigration enforcement by restricting when officers could inquire about immigration status.

3

35. Migrant Justice continued to campaign for improved bias-free policing policies. In

4 2012, the Vermont legislature enacted a new law requiring all law enforcement agencies in Vermont

5 to adopt bias-free policing policies. 2012 Acts & Resolves No. 134, § 2 (codified at 20 V.S.A.

6 § 2366 (2012)).

7

36. In 2014, Vermont passed Act I 93, a law mandating collection of roadside stop data

8 and establishing a process and timeline for the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council to adopt a

9 model Fair and Impartial Policing policy. 2014 Vt. Acts & Resolves No. 193, § 3 (codified at 20

IO V.S.A. § 2366 (2014)). The legislation explicitly directed the Criminal Justice Training Council to

11 ""consult[] with stakeholders, including the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the Vermont

12 Human Rights Commission, and Migrant Justice."

13

37. In February 2015, Migrant Justice assisted a member, Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas, to file

14 a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission against the Grand Isle County Sheriffs

15 Department. A deputy had stopped a car driven by a Migrant Justice volunteer in which Alcudia

16 Gamas rode in the passenger seat, on his way to a community meeting as a representative of Migrant

17 Justice.

18

38. The deputy issued the Caucasian driver a warning for speeding but turned Alcudia

19 Gamas over to U.S. Border Patrol. The Vermont Human Rights Commission concluded that there

20 were reasonable grounds to believe that the Sheriff's Department had discriminated against Alcudia

21 Gamas on the basis of his national origin and race. In April 2016, the Sheriff's Department settled

22 with Alcudia Gamas and the Human Rights Commission for nearly $30,000.

23

39. In 2016, Vermont passed Act 147, a law establishing deadlines for the completion of

24 fair and impartial policing training and in-service training. 2016 Vt. Acts & Resolves No. 147, § 26

25 (codified at 20 V.S.A. 2366 (2016)). Migrant Justice had advocated for the passage of this law.

26

40. Migrant Justice continues advocating and organizing to promote fair and impartial

27 policing policies to this day.

28

8

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 9 of 41

41. Migrant Justice also actively campaigns to prevent the deportation of members

2 arrested by federal immigration authorities, by organizing public support to lobby immigration

3 officials and submit support letters in immigration court, engaging in social media campaigns, and

4 serving as a resource to connect community members to legal help. Migrant Justice has publicly

5 campaigned to stop the deportation of eleven members.

6

3. Migrant Justice's Activism Around Driver Privilege Cards Placed and

Continues to Place ICE and the Vermont OMV in the Public Spotlight. 7

42. Beginning in 2012, Migrant Justice and its members embarked on a long and

8

ultimately successful legislative campaign to create the Vermont "Driver Privilege Card" ("DPC"),

9

which permits Vermont residents to drive within the state, regardless of immigration status. Plaintiff

IO

Balcazar Sanchez and Migrant Justice member Danilo Lopez, described by the statewide news

11

website VTDigger as a '·frequent presence" at the Vermont Statehouse, led the campaign.

12

43. In 2013, after more than a year of campaigning, lobbying, and organizing by Migrant

13

Justice members, the Vermont legislature passed the DPC legislation. It became effective on January

14

1, 2014. 2013 Acts & Resolves No. 74 (codified at 23 V.S.A. § 603).

15

44. The DPC provided a solution for migrant workers who did not have the documentation

16

required by the federal REAL ID act to obtain driver's licenses, yet who needed to drive in order to

17

work and meet basic needs within a rural state. The DPC also proved popular for many other

18

Vermont residents who needed to drive within the state but did not want or could not obtain a REAL

19

ID-compliant driver's license.

20

45. More than 40,000 Vermont residents obtained a DPC in a little over a year.

21

46. In early 2014, the OMV began sending personally identifying information obtained

22

from DPC applications to ICE and scheduling appointments to facilitate ICE arrests.

23

47. As one of the only community organizations in the State working with Latinos,

24

Migrant Justice quickly became the point-organization to assist individuals struggling to access

25

DPCs. Migrant Justice advocated in the press, with elected officials, and with the agency itself to

26

investigate and reform practices, and publicly questioned the DMV's actions, particularly with regard

27

to state-federal law enforcement cooperation.

28

9

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 10 of 41

48. From 2016 through 2018, the ACLU of Vermont, in coordination with Migrant

2 Justice, filed a series of public records requests seeking information about the implementation of the

3 DPC program. The Vermont press reported extensively on the information obtained and in April

4 2017, the Vermont Senate held hearings about the DMV's information-sharing with ICE. Migrant

5 Justice became well known to OMV and ICE officials because of its public role. Migrant Justice's

6 advocacy relating to DPCs continues to the present day.

7

B. ICE Surveils, Infiltrates, Engages in Disinformation, Arrests, and Detains

8

Plaintiffs and Others to Retaliate and Chill Their First Amendment Rights.

49. Beginning in at least 2014, ICE has targeted, surveilled, and spread disinformation 9

about Migrant Justice, its staff, and its leaders. ICE has also arrested and detained no fewer than 10

twenty active Migrant Justice members and leaders. 11

50. The majority of these arrests did not fit within ICE's internal priorities for 12

enforcement. Rather, they occurred contemporaneously with and in response to the increasing 13

visibility and activism of Migrant Justice in challenging misconduct by the Vermont DMV and 14

abusive ICE practices in Latino and worker communities. 15

51. While these Migrant Justice members were detained, ICE interrogated them without 16

counsel; interrogated them about circumstances clearly beyond ICE's jurisdiction; ridiculed them; 17

and threatened them with indefinite detention. 18

19

1. ICE Arrests Plaintiff Jose Victor Garcia Diaz and Specifically Notes His Affiliation with Migrant Justice on His Arrest Documents.

20

52. On April 18, 2016, a DHS/ICE Deportation Officer requested Plaintiff Jose Victor

21 Garcia Diaz's photograph and DPC application from the Vermont OMV. A DMV Enforcement

22 Division Administrative Supervisor complied on April 19, 2016.

23

53. On April 20, 2016, Plaintiff Garcia Diaz returned to Vermont from Los Angeles where

24 he had represented Migrant Justice at a well-publicized conference for the Food Chain Workers

25 Alliance, a national coalition oflabor rights organizations. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz posted on Facebook

26 about his traveling to the conference and his anticipated participation in a cultural event the next day.

27

28

10

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 11 of 41

54. On April 21, 2016, ICE agents arrested Plaintiff Garcia Diaz in a parking lot outside of

2 the cultural event in Stowe, Vermont. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz was with Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez

3 and Balcazar Sanchez at the time of his arrest.

4

55. In paperwork documenting the arrest, the ·'Report of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien,.,

5 known as the Form I-213, ICE Agent Brady Goff noted that Plaintiff Garcia Diaz was a ''member and

6 associate of Migrant Justice." An internal ICE report issued on April 21, 2016 noted that Plaintiff

7 Garcia Diaz is a "prominent and public member of the immigrant advocacy group Migrant Justice."

8

56. During his interrogation, ICE asked Plaintiff Garcia Diaz about an identification card

9 he possessed from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a prominent activist farmworker group in

10 Florida. ICE seized the card. The ICE agents knew of the Coalition ofimmokalee Workers and

11 commented on the organization in front of Plaintiff Garcia Diaz. ICE also seized his DPC. ICE has

12 not returned either piece of documentation.

13

57. After Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's arrest, Migrant Justice launched a series of rallies to

14 support him. On April 22, 2016, Migrant Justice members assembled in Senator Leahy's office in

15 Burlington, Vermont to protest ICE' s conduct. On May 1, 2016, Migrant Justice organized a rally in

16 Montpelier attended by hundreds of individuals. As a result of Migrant Justice's petitioning, Senator

17 Leahy' s office stated its intent to intervene on Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's behalf and lobbied against ICE

18 practices in Washington, D.C. Senator Sanders followed shortly thereafter and also submitted a letter

19 to ICE supporting Plaintiff Garcia Diaz.

20

2. ICE Arrests Migrant Justice Member Alberto Sanchez Perez and Spreads

Disinformation about Migrant Justice Staff to Sow Distrust. 21

58. On August 24, 2016, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Alberto Sanchez Perez.

22

Sanchez Perez has no criminal record and did not qualify as a OHS enforcement priority under the

23

November 20, 2014 guidelines. ICE officers targeted Sanchez Perez and falsely claimed that they

24

needed to investigate the causes of a car accident in which he was a passenger. Although they had no

25

jurisdiction over the car accident, the ICE officers interrogated Sanchez Perez for several hours, held

26

him overnight, prevented him from contacting an attorney, and made multiple references to his

27

perceived sexual orientation.

28

11

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 12 of 41

59. ICE officers told Sanchez Perez that they had been discussing the accident with

2 Migrant Justice leader Marita Canedo and had asked Canedo to bring Sanchez Perez to the ICE

3 office, and that they would not have arrested Sanchez Perez if Canedo had given him a message that

4 they wanted to speak with him.

5

3. ICE Arrests Plaintiff Miguel Alcudia Gamas and Warns Him that "Kike"

Is "Next." 6

60. ICE next arrested and detained Migrant Justice leader Plaintiff Miguel Alcudia

7

Gamas. Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas has no criminal record and did not qualify as a DHS enforcement

8

priority under the November 20, 2014 guidelines.

9

61. Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas is the cousin of Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas, whose involvement

10

in Migrant Justice's advocacy for bias-free policing is discussed above.

11

62. On September 16, 2016, a DHS/ICE Deportation Officer requested from the Vermont

12

DMV Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas's photograph, his DPC application, and a list of vehicles registered in

13

his name.

14

63. A DMV employee complied, volunteered that Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas's license plate

15

··was recently issued,'' and asked if the DHS/ICE Deportation Officer ''want[ed] the paperwork for

16

that.''

17

64. An ICE Important Federal Interest Memorandum ("IFI Memo") dated September 19,

18

2016, states that "continued prosecution of [Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas] would serve an important

19

federal interest" even though. according to the cover email accompanying the IFI Memo, Plaintiff

20

Alcudia Gamas was "not currently an ICE Enforcement Priority.'' The IFI Memo does not specify

21

the reasons for this determination. which was made as a matter of "prosecutorial discretion.''

22

65. ICE surveilled Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas and arrested him on September 22, 2016. ICE
23

identified Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas by his license plate and DPC. During the arrest, an ICE agent

24

asked Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas if he was related to Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas. Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas

25

replied that they were cousins.

26

66. The ICE agent also asked Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas if he knew Migrant Justice leader-
27

member ''Kike.'' referring to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez by his nickname. When Plaintiff Alcudia

28

Gamas replied that he did, the ICE agent stated that Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez was "next.'' Plaintiff

12

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 13 of 41

Alcudia Gamas took this to mean that Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez would be the next Migrant Justice

2 leader to be arrested and detained.

3

67. Under the section titled ·'Recommendation/Disposition" on Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas's

4 Form 1-213, an ICE officer noted that a ''representative of the advocacy group Migrant Justice" called

5 the ICE ERO office on September 22, 2016.

6

68. On September 22, 2016, Mi!:,rrant Justice organized a protest at the ICE facility at St.

7 Albans, Vermont in response to Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas's arrest. Migrant Justice also secured a

8 letter from Senator Sanders to support Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas's release from detention on bond.

9 Internal ICE documents reflect that ICE employees expended significant effort responding to

10 Congressional and media inquiries generated by Migrant Justice's advocacy efforts.

1 1

4. ICE Targets Additional Migrant Justice Members.

12

69. On February 2, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Arturo Ruiz Rodriguez

13 outside of his home. Ruiz Rodriguez has no criminal record and did not qualify as a OHS

14 enforcement priority under prevailing enforcement guidelines.

15

70. During the arrest, Ruiz Rodriguez informed ICE that his minor son, a seven-year-old

16 U.S. citizen, was inside. Ruiz Rodriguez asked ICE if he could make arrangements for child care

17 while he was detained. An ICE agent refused this request and added that if Ruiz Rodriguez entered

18 his home, ICE would arrest and detain his seven-year-old son as well.

19

71. The ICE agent falsely informed Ruiz-Rodriguez that he had received his name and

20 address from Migrant Justice leader Will Lambek.

21

72. On March 15, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Cesar Alexis Carrillo

22 Sanchez. Carrillo Sanchez's 1-213 notes that ICE relied for the arrest upon information obtained

23 from his "Vermont DMV license application.''

24

5. ICE Enlists an Informant to Surveil and Target Plaintiffs Zully Palacios

Rodriguez and Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez. 25

73. By February and March 2017, ICE had already begun a full-scale campaign to

26

infiltrate and debilitate Migrant Justice, employing means far exceeding legitimate immigration

27

enforcement practice.

28

13

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 14 of 41

74. ICE enlisted at least one civilian informant to infiltrate Migrant Justice, which it used

2 to effect the arrests of two prominent Migrant Justice member-leaders, Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez

3 and Balcazar Sanchez, just days after the arrest of Migrant Justice member Carrillo Sanchez.

4

75. Neither Plaintiff Palacio Rodriguez nor Balcazar Sanchez have criminal records, nor

5 did they qualify as OHS enforcement priorities. Internal documents confirm that ICE was aware it

6 had no apparent legitimate law enforcement reason to arrest and detain Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez

7 and Balcazar Sanchez.

8

76. According to text messages sent between ICE Agent John Trantum and the informant,

9 ICE used the informant to obtain private information to arrest, detain, and retaliate against Plaintiffs

10 and their colleagues because of their activism. Messages sent between the informant and her trusted 11 acquaintance, Jane Doe, 1 also a civilian, confirm this relationship. According to the informant,

12 ·'anytime [Agent Trantum] makes an arrest he asks me [for information about the subject.]"

13

77. Jane Doe told Migrant Justice leaders that ICE knew that to "strike a blow" against

14 Migrant Justice they needed to target Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez because he was "very outspoken.'"

15

78. The informant's text messages reveal that she further ingratiated herself with the

16 organization in order to establish membership and gain access to non-public meetings and private

17 conversations. For instance, the informant attended a number of Migrant Justice events, including

18 but not limited to a February 25, 2017 Fannworker Assembly that was not open to the public. The

19 informant's presence intruded upon Plaintiffs' privacy.

20

79. On March 1, 2017, ICE Agent Trantum asked the civilian informant to target a

21 specific Migrant Justice member. The informant sent Jane Doe a photograph of at least seven

22 individuals wearing Migrant Justice T-shirts and asked her. "Hey you know this guy at all?" Internal

23 ICE emails also confirm that ICE surveilled targets based on photographs of individuals "wearing []

24 Migrant Justice Tee-shirt[s] [sic].''

25

80. In another message on March 4, 201 7, the informant discussed with Jane Doe ICE' s

26 plan to apprehend Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez. The informant confided in Jane Doe that ICE had

27

28
1 "Jane Doe'' is used to protect confidentiality.

14

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 15 of 41

1 been surveilling Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's house for many weeks and had even seen Migrant

2 Justice leader Marita Canedo's car at her residence.

3

81. According to Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's Form I-213 documenting her arrest, an

4 ICE officer-for no stated reason-ran a search for her biographical information in October 2016.

5 According to a separate internal memorandum, the investigating ICE officer noted that he was

6 conducting a Facebook search. The Form 1-213 states that ICE received information •'from a

7 concerned citizen," whom Plaintiffs believe to be the informant.

8

82. Internal ICE emails between Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI") Burlington

9 and Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO") Boston reflect that Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez

10 was a target of a planned arrest in March 201 7.

11

83. Although Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez was the ostensible target, ICE's surveillance led

12 ICE agents to believe they could arrest Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, too. On March 13, 2017, ICE

13 drafted a "Field Operations Worksheet" regarding Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez. Under an entry for

14 "Spouse/Children,,. the operations worksheet states that Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's "Boyfriend Is

15 Enrique Balcazar.'' Internal ICE documents note that "BALCAZAR will most likely be with

16 [Palacios] at the time of arrest as they are together most of the time.,.

17

84. On March 8, 2017, a OHS/ICE Deportation Officer emailed the OMV to request

18 Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's license plate information. A DMV employee complied the next day.

19

85. On March 13, 2017, in response to a request for an "Agency Assist,'' a DMV official

20 transmitted Balcazar Sanchez's application for a Driver Privilege Card to ICE Agent Goff. In the

21 margins of the application, a OMV official handwrote the words "UNDOCUMENTED'' and

22 "'PRIVILEGE CARD.'" Balcazar Sanchez's I-213 states that ICE obtained a number of documents

23 from the OMV: in addition to the standard OMV document requested, the DMV sent a "biographic

24 page'" and copies of identity documents. An internal DHS and ICE "Field Operations Worksheet"

25 reflects that the OMV also sent Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's license plate number and car model.

26

86. On March 17, 2017, at about 1: 15 a.m., Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez received a

27 notification from Microsoft that an unauthorized individual had attempted to gain access to her email

28

15

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 16 of 41

1 account. Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez was not aware of her account previously being hacked and this

2 was the first time that she received this type of notification.

3

87. Later that day, after driving from a meeting at Migrant Justice with Plaintiff Palacios

4 Rodriguez in the front passenger seat, Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez observed a white car following

5 them from the meeting. According to an internal document, the arresting ICE officer recognized him

6 from Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's arrest and was able to identify him even though he was driving directly

7 behind him.

8

88. Three unmarked cars boxed in Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriquez and Balcazar Sanchez in

9 a very busy intersection of Route 7 and Flynn Avenue. Plainclothes officers exited their vehicles, did

10 not identify themselves, and ordered Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez to put the car in park, put his hands

11 on the wheel, and get out of the car. Agent Goff, with his hand on his gun, seized Plaintiff Palacios

12 Rodriguez's phone from out of her hand, unbuckled her seatbelt, and physically removed her from

13 the vehicle. The officers screamed at Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, humiliated him, and caused a

14 demeaning public spectacle. Bystanders, including children, observed the spectacle, and several

15 individuals inquired about the nature of the arrest.

16

89. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez asked the officers to identify themselves, why they were

17 detaining them, and if they had an arrest warrant. The officers did not respond. Though ICE officers

18 handcuffed him by the wrists and later by the ankles, ICE never told Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez that

19 he was under arrest, or why.

20

90. Agent Goff referred to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez repeatedly by his nickname, "Kike,'·

21 and other ICE agents referred to Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez as "Vicki,'' a nickname for her middle

22 name that she uses on Facebook.

23

91. ICE agents made repeated references to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's and Plaintiff

24 Palacios Rodriguez's affiliation with Migrant Justice. ICE explicitly forbade Plaintiff Balcazar

25 Sanchez from contacting Migrant Justice during his processing and detention. ICE agents threatened

26 him that if he did call Migrant Justice, "it will be worse for you."

27

28

16

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 17 of 41

92. Agent Goff forbade Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez from calling Migrant Justice leaders

2 Will Lambek or Brendan O'Neill (referring to them by name) and forbade her from disclosing her

3 location.

4

93. Later, when Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez arrived at a detention facility in Swanton,

5 Vermont, Jeff Curtis, ICE Supervising Deportation and Detention Officer, told the facility that he had

6 brought them "a famous person," in reference to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's activism.

7

94. An ICE officer also attempted to coax Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez into signing an

8 order of voluntary departure by threatening falsely that she would be detained for two months without

9 bond.

10

95. ICE considered Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez and Palacios Rodriguez "high-profile

11 cases." On March 21, 201 7, four days after Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's and Palacios Rodriguez's

12 arrests, in response to a newspaper article about Migrant Justice, an ICE employee asked Timothy

13 Robbins, Deputy Assistant Director of ICE/ERO, Daniel Ragsdale, then ICE Deputy Director, and

14 Defendant Matthew Albence, Executive Associate Director of ICE/ERO, for "executive summaries'"

15 on Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, Migrant Justice member Alex Carrillo, and Migrant Justice leader Will

16 Lambek.

17

96. ICE had no basis to target Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez or Palacios Rodriguez to protect

18 public safety or comply with ICE's stated priorities. An internal email thread on March 30, 2017,

19 reflects ICE's desired priority to ''push forward on subjects with a criminal/public safety nexus.''

20 Neither Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez nor Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez had criminal records, as reflected

21 in both of their Form I-2 l 3s. A separate OHS document lists Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's "risk to

22 public safety'' as "low.''

23

97. Just a few weeks prior to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's arrest, Vermont Attorney

24 General T.J. Donovan had appointed him to his Immigration Task Force.

25

98. In late March and April 201 7, in response to the arrests of Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez

26 and Palacios Rodriguez, Migrant Justice organized protests to advocate for their release. Dozens

27 picketed around the St. Albans ICE office; hundreds of allies gathered in downtown Burlington,

28

17

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 18 of 41

Montpelier, and Brattleboro; and a petition to release the individuals gathered thousands of

2 signatures.

3

99. The protests generated significant media coverage. Vermont United States Senators

4 Leahy and Sanders, Congressman Welch, and Vermont Senator Pro Tempore Tim Ashe voiced their

5 concern about ICE tactics and policies.

6

l 00. On March 27, 2017, the date of Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez and Palacios Rodriguez's

7 bond hearing, Migrant Justice members organized a protest attended by hundreds of individuals

8 outside of the Boston Immigration Court.

9

101. Internal ICE documents reflect that ICE knew of the locations and times of the

10 protests before they occurred. ICE employees shared with one another a number of Migrant Justice

11 Facebook photos publicizing the event.

12

102. Senator Sanders had also submitted letters to the Immigration Court with 10,000

13 signatures of support, noting that it was "unclear why these two individuals would possibly be

14 considered enforcement priorities[.]"

15

6. ICE Continues to Hold and Prosecute Two Migrant Justice Members

After Learning About Their Affiliation with Migrant Justice. 16

103. On June 17, 2017, Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") pulled over and arrested

17

Migrant Justice members Esau Peche Ventura and Yesenia Hernandez Ramos. The arrest occurred

18

on the same day that Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos had marched thirteen miles to show their

19

support for the rights of workers in Migrant Justice's march from Montpelier to the Ben & Jerry's

20

factory in Waterbury, Vermont, in support of the campaign for the Milk with Dignity Program.

21

104. CBP agents pulled over Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos's vehicle without

22

explicit or evident cause. CBP arrested Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos and searched their

23

vehicle. CBP transferred Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos to ICE custody. ICE held them for

24

several days.

25

105. By the morning of June 19, 2017, internal ICE documents reveal that ICE understood

26

that it lacked sufficient cause to continue detaining Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos, stating in

27

an internal email. "I have asked [redacted] to reach out to BP to see if there is anything they can do to

28

give us legally sufficient cases so we can move forward." Even though ICE knew that it lacked a

18

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 19 of 41

legally sufficient reason to continue to hold them, ICE did not release them but instead requested the

2 DMV records of Peche Ventura and CBP visited their place of employment in search of evidence to

3 support their continued detention.

4

106. Over the course of the day on June 19, 2017, the DMV provided ICE with Peche

5 Ventura's DPC application along with identifying vehicular information.

6

107. Also on June 19, 2017, a delegation of Migrant Justice members and allies protested at

7 the ICE office in St. Albans, Vermont. Migrant Justice members demanded that ICE explain why it

8 had arrested individuals with no criminal records.

9

108. During the protest, ICE agents recognized and identified several members by name.

10 One ICE agent specifically pointed to and threatened some of the Individual Plaintiffs with detention.

11 The agent called out Plaintiffs by name-''Kike [Balcazar], Zully [Palacios], [and] Victor

12 [Garcia],"-and stated "you are putting your bond at risk." This statement was intended to chill

13 Plaintiffs' speech.

14

109. ICE officers also accessed Migrant Justice social media pages to track and monitor

15 advocacy campaigns on Peche Ventura's and Hernandez Ramos's behalf. ICE identified Migrant

I6 Justice's protest in St. Albans as an "ICE Significant Incident."

17

7. ICE Selectively Revealed that It Was Surveilling Migrant Justice in Order

to Intimidate and Chill Its Activities. 18

110. In addition to the arrests, ICE selectively revealed information that it was surveilling

19

Migrant Justice in order to intimidate and chill Plaintiffs' protected activities.

20

111. For example, Migrant Justice assemblies are not open to the general public. The

21

organization shares the locations, dates, and times of its meetings only with members and known

22

supporters. However, in February 2017, a Migrant Justice supporter and community leader called the

23

ICE St. Albans office to ask questions about ICE's policies and practices relating to the detention of

24

children. Instead of answering her questions, the ICE Supervising Deportation and Detention Officer

25

asked the Migrant Justice ally whether she was asking the questions in preparation for the Migrant

26

Justice meeting, which he referenced by date and stated the exact location of the assembly-neither

27

of which had been made public.

28

19

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 20 of 41

112. ICE arrests of Migrant Justice members continue, and ICE's surveillance of Migrant

2 Justice also likely continues.

3

113. As recently as October 25, 2018, CBP arrested Migrant Justice member Eli Calvo

4 Cruz. ICE then ordered Calvo Cruz detained on a $14,000 bond, even though an immigration judge

5 in an earlier proceeding had set Calvo Cruz's bond at $4,500 and had administratively closed his

6 immigration case.

7

114. Migrant Justice organized a public campaign in support of Calvo Cruz's bond hearing,

8 collecting nearly 1,300 signatures and writing letters of support. On November 9, 2018, an

9 immigration judge released Calvo Cruz on $1,500 bond.

10

8. Defendants Have Significantly Chilled the Speech of Plaintiffs, Caused

Lasting Harm, and Forced Migrant Justice to Divert Resources. 11

115. Migrant Justice's members-Plaintiff and non-Plaintiff members alike-have an

12

immediate fear of reprisal and share a ubiquitous sentiment of being watched. Migrant Justice is

13

concerned that, as certain private meetings have been surveilled, public protests and marches in the

14

future will be as well. Migrant Justice has had to modify and limit certain programming. Migrant

15

Justice has forgone certain opportunities to advocate on behalf of its members and to advocate for

16

economic and workplace rights. Defendants' conduct has hampered Migrant Justice's ability to reach

17

a broad and vulnerable audience and has caused a significant chill of free speech.

18

116. Defendants' unlawful conduct has taken a significant toll on Migrant Justice and its

19

membership. The effects of Defendants' conduct manifest in four primary ways: (1) Plaintiffs and

20

other non-Plaintiff members are fearful of further retaliation and now proceed more cautiously,

21

including forgoing certain speaking opportunities for fear of reprisal; (2) as a result, Migrant Justice

22

is less effective, and is able to draw fewer attendees, less support, and lower enthusiasm; (3) Migrant

23

Justice has been forced to shift its efforts from advocacy focused on advancing workplace rights to

24

advocacy focused on defending against retaliatory immigration enforcement; and (4) Defendants

25

have forced Migrant Justice to outlay significant time, resources, and finances as a result.

26

117. Defendants' unlawful conduct continues to exert a substantial chilling effect upon the
27

organization and its members and continues to undennine Migrant Justice's advocacy. Given ICE's

28

extensive surveillance and infiltration, Plaintiffs expect ongoing harassment and targeting of their

20

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 21 of 41

First Amendment activities. As a result, Migrant Justice has had to take extensive and costly

2 precautions, limiting its overall reach to the community. For example, when the organization hosts

3 meetings, it must implement a watch system around the state to prevent ICE from following and

4 surveilling members' vehicles.

5

118. Migrant Justice leader Marita Canedo has limited her interaction with other members

6 since she learned that ICE was surveilling her car, discussed infra Jr 129: she no longer provides

7 members transportation, which significantly hinders her ability to connect with workers; she fears

8 that ICE will target any member with whom she associates and avoids major roads when driving.

9

119. Migrant Justice believes that the infonnant is still infiltrating its membership to this

10 very day. In the weeks before this complaint was filed, the informant attended a Migrant Justice

11 event and began recording video while she was there, despite explicit requests to attendees not to

12 record video or post to social media. Moreover, internal documents from the OMV and ICE indicate

13 that the OMV is still sending ICE sensitive information to facilitate ICE's enforcement of civil

14 immigration law.

15

120. Each Plaintiff expresses concern and fear of further retaliation, including surveillance,

16 harassment, and summary arrest and detention. Each Plaintiff asserts that though he or she remains a

17 member of Migrant Justice and continues to engage in political speech, he or she proceeds more

18 anxiously and fearfully than before Defendants' unlawful conduct and that his or her speech has been

19 chilled.

20

121. This too is true of many non-Plaintiff Migrant Justice members. Additionally, many

21 migrant workers express hesitation to join Migrant Justice-initiated protests, rallies, or marches

22 because they fear they will be detained for organizing and associating with the organization.

23

122. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

24 Plaintiff Garcia Diaz suffers from significant anxiety, sadness, and difficulty concentrating. He

25 believes that Defendants continue to track his movements and surveil him during meetings, protests,

26 and community events. He worries every time he participates in Migrant Justice activities. His

27 speech and associational rights have been chilled.

28

21

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 22 of 41

123. As a result of Defendants· unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention.

2 Plaintiff Alcudia Gamas suffers from significant anxiety, sleeplessness, and frequent headaches. He

3 believes that Defendants continue to track his movements and surveil him during meetings, protests,

4 and community events. His speech and associational rights have been chilled.

5

124. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

6 Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez suffers from significant anxiety, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and

7 a sense of dread and paranoia that causes him to alert his friends and family as to his whereabouts at

8 all times because of fear. He believes that Defendants continue to track his movements and surveil

9 him during meetings, protests, and community events. He also believes ICE is monitoring his social

10 media profiles. His speech and associational rights have been chilled.

11

125. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

12 Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez lives in a constant state of fear that ICE will arrest her and send her to

13 jail at any moment. She suffers from significant anxiety, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, nightmares,

14 and a sense of despair and sadness that causes her to burst into tears without provocation. She

15 believes that Defendants continue to track her movements and surveil her during meetings, protests,

16 and community events. She also believes Defendants may be monitoring her private electronic

17 communications, as well as her social media profiles. Her speech and associational rights have been

18 chilled.

19

126. By decreasing willingness of Vermont residents to risk association with the

20 organization's viewpoints and advocacy efforts, Migrant Justice's ability to effectuate its labor

21 organizing efforts has been diminished.

22

127. Defendants' conduct has significantly deterred members' participation and attendance

23 at Migrant Justice events. On average, assembly participation has dropped by approximately one-

24 half. Members have reported fearing retaliation by Defendants and citing the ongoing ICE actions

25 against Plaintiffs specifically.

26

128. The closer in time to a recent arrest or detention an assembly or event was planned, the

27 lower the attendance. For example, only ten Migrant Justice members attended the March 23, 2017,

28 assembly in Morrisville, Vermont, held six days after Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez's and Palacios

22

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 23 of 41

Rodriguez's arrests, although approximately twenty-five had originally stated they intended to

2 participate. At least seven Migrant Justice members called to cancel their attendance at the assembly

3 in the days following the arrests. Additional members expected to participate did not attend, and

4 many community organizers and advocates were notably absent. Likewise, Defendants' conduct

5 hampered Migrant Justice's ability to recruit new employees and gamer community support.

6

129. Migrant Justice's Women's Group met monthly in 2015 and 2016, but stopped

7 meeting for two years due to members' fears about ICE and law enforcement activity, specifically the

8 arrests of Plaintiffs Garcia Diaz and Alcudia Gamas. Migrant Justice members widely understood

9 that ICE was surveilling Women's Group leader Marita Canedo, which referenced her "red car" on a

10 number of occasions, a fact confinned by the informant.

11

130. Defendants' conduct has caused a number of Vermont-based farm owners to

12 discourage their employees from participating in Migrant Justice activities for fear that their workers

13 would be detained. Further, fearing that advocacy would draw unwarranted attention from federal

14 authorities and many of their employees would be arrested, many farm owners are reluctant to

15 participate in the Milk with Dignity Program. This reluctance has protracted negotiations with

16 companies such as Ben & Jerry's and continues to hinder the operation of the program and its

17 expansion to cover more farmworkers.

18

131. As a result of Defendants' speech suppression, Migrant Justice has had to divert away

19 from priorities such as Milk with Dignity and redirect them towards combatting unconstitutional

20 immigration practices. ICE's activities have forced Migrant Justice to devote significant time and

21 resources to activities such as advocating for bond reductions for its indigent members and taking

22 other measures to mitigate the harmful impact of the chilling of individual members' willingness to

23 continue to associate with the organization.

24

132. Migrant Justice has had to divert a significant portion of their time to immigration-

25 defense related work, specifically combatting the DMV's discriminatory treatment against

26 immigrants, addressing ICE-based retaliatory arrests and surveillance practices, creating national

27 organizing and advocacy campaigns for their aggrieved members, and countless others. A significant

28

23

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 24 of 41

portion of staff time has been diverted away from labor-based advocacy to immigration-related work

2 due to Defendants' conduct.

3

133. Members have also been forced to spend significant time training and protecting

4 members and leaders from ICE targeting and retaliation. These measures include preventative

5 measures, ranging from drafting, developing, and implementing emergency plans, to know-your-

6 rights trainings, among others.

7

134. In addition, Defendants' unlawful retaliation and suppression of free speech has

8 caused Migrant Justice financial losses. Migrant Justice regularly serves as obligor for its members'

9 bond payments while they are in immigration detention. For instance, Migrant Justice advanced

10 funds to post bond of $6,000.00 each for members Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos. Migrant

11 Justice also posts funds into detained members' commissary funds to allow them to purchase

12 sufficient food while detained and provide transportation for detained individuals once released.

13

13 5. The costs attendant to combating and mitigating Defendants' unconstitutional conduct

14 extend beyond bond payments. As the immigration judge overseeing Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez's

15 and Palacios Rodriguez's cases observed, advocacy in support of detained members was a strong

16 factor supporting their release. Thus, to allow its members the opportunity to post bail, Migrant

17 Justice has to organize rallies, protests, and marches in support of its detained members. Costs

18 associated with these efforts include-but are not limited to-significant staff time, printing costs,

19 and travel to and from protests which often are located outside of the Boston Immigration Court,

20 including costs associated with rental cars, charter buses, gas, and mileage reimbursement.

21

136. As a result of Defendants' unlawful conduct, Migrant Justice has been forced to

22 expend significant financial resources, affecting the organization's operating budget, impairing its

23 ability to function effectively, and creating tangible and articulable damages.

24

9. ICE Targets Activists Around the Country for Speaking Out.

25

137. ICE's efforts to undern1ine Migrant Justice are part of a pattern of ICE expending

26 significant resources to target, surveil, arrest, and detain immigrant activists and leaders across the

27 country in response to their protected political speech and activity.

28

24

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 25 of 41

13 8. Since 2016, ICE has arrested no fewer than twenty high-profile immigrant activist

2 leaders for their political activism and public speech, including the following individuals:

3

• On March 2, 2017, ICE arrested Daniela Vargas of Mississippi, Deferred Action

4

for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") recipient, after she spoke publicly about ICE

5

raiding her family's home and arresting her brother and father.

6

• On May 18, 2017, CBP arrested Claudia Rueda of California, an immigrant rights

activist and college student, after she spoke out publicly about her mother's arrest.

7

• In November 27, 2017, ICE arrested Baltazar Aburto Gutierrez of Washington

8

after he spoke to a local journalist. During the arrest, an ICE agent told him '•you

9

are the one from the newspaper."

10

• On December 20, 2017, ICE arrested Maru Mora Villalpando of Washington, a

longtime activist and founder of the Northwest Detention Center Resistance. 1 1

• On January 3, 2018, ICE arrested Jean Montrevil ofNew York, a longstanding

12

activist with the New Sanctuary Coalition. He was deported less than two weeks

13

later, on January 16, 2018.

14

• On January 11, 2018, ICE arrested Ravi Ragbir of New York, a longstanding

activist with and Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition. Ragbir has

15

since won a stay of removal from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals while his

16

case is appealed.

17

• On January 11, 2018, ICE arrested Eliseo Jurado of Colorado, the husband of

Ingrid Encalada Latorre, a leader in Colorado's sanctuary movement who gained

18

media attention after she sought sanctuary from detention in a local church.

19

• On March 7, 2018, ICE arrested Alejandra Pablos of Virginia, a permanent

20

resident, after she helped lead a protest in Virginia outside of a DHS office.

Pablos is a longstanding immigrant activist and field coordinator for the National

21

Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

22

• In early April 2018, ICE detained Manuel Duran, a Memphis, Tennessee-based

journalist at the Memphis Noticias newspaper, who has a long history of

23

publicizing reports critical of federal immigration practices.

24 • On July 24, 2018, in Racine Wisconsin, ICE arrested community leader Ricardo

25

Fierro, the Council President of the local League of United Latin American

Citizens ("LULAC").

26 139. On January 26, 2018, thirty-one members of Congress sent a letter to ICE and OHS

27 expressing concern about the agencies' targeting of activists, which they explained "may create a

28 broader chilling effect within the community, dissuading some immigrants from invoking their legal

25

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 26 of 41

rights for fear that doing so will result in retaliation by ICE." On March 22, 2018, four members of

2 Congress sent a letter to ICE expressing concern about retaliation against activists, stating that ''the

3 use oflaw enforcement resources to retaliate against critics and political opponents of the President is

4 contrary to our most basic democratic norms."

5

140. These arrests reflect an even broader expressed antipathy toward individuals, entities,

6 and states who choose to challenge the administration's aggressive and intentionally intimidating

7 enforcement practices. Retaliatory arrests actively continue around the United States.

8

C. The DMV Has a Policy, Pattern, or Practice of Sharing Information with ICE,

9

Motivated by Animus Against Latinos and Other Non-White People.

10

141. OMV has had a long-standing policy, pattern, and practice of permitting its staff to

11 routinely and regularly share information with ICE and Border Patrol and to actively seek to facilitate

12 the immigration enforcement activities of those two agencies.

13

142. This information-sharing has included passing along information about individuals

14 that OMV staff believed to be in the country unlawfully and responding to informal ICE requests for
15 information about individuals, such as their Driver's Privilege Card application and supporting
16

17 documentation or vehicle registration.

18

143. Beyond providing information, OMV also cooperated by scheduling appointments and

19 driver's tests around ICE's availability, requiring drivers to come to the DMV office unnecessarily.

20 or imposing criminal charges for the purpose of exposing an individual to greater risk of immigration

21 enforcement.

22 144. Many of these fonns of cooperation were instrumental in the arrests and detention of
23
the individual Plaintiffs. 24

25

145. OMV staff specifically targeted Latinos for these practices: DPC applicants and

26 holders with Latino surnames were far more likely to have their information shared with ICE than

27 those with non-Latino surnames, despite there being more than.four times as many OPC holders and

28 applicants than there are Latinos in Vermont.

26

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 27 of 41

146. The policy, pattern, and practice exhibited by DMV staff and permitted by the DMV
2 represented a long-standing and deep-seated animus toward Latinos and non-white individuals, and
3 are therefore perceived by DMV staff as ·'foreign," due to their physical appearance, surname, or
4 accent.
5 147. For example, DMV employees frequently highlighted the race of individuals whom
6
7 they intended to investigate or referred to them as •'immigrants" and "illegals." For instance, in a

8 December 2, 2014 email to a supervisor, DMV Investigator Jonathan Purdy recounted how he

9 noticed people who "appeared (illegal)" and '·three people loitering outside (who appeared Mexican)"

10 at the DMV and called ICE agents' attention to these individuals to investigate. In the same email, a
11 DMV Investigator gratuitously noted that another DMV employee told him '·she had a Mexican at
12 her window who wanted to schedule a permit test."
13 148. In another example, a DMV communication made light of the discrimination: in a
14
15 November 7, 2014 email, a DMV employee sarcastically remarked to a DMV Investigator: "I don't

16 want to discriminate, I don't dare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'' (fifty-three

17 exclamation points in original).
18 149. That DMV knew of and permitted the discriminatory conduct is without question.
19 DMV employees' disproportionate focus on race and perceived ethnicity was evident across a broad
20 swath of communications received or viewed by supervisors. As early as October 2014, one DMV
21
22 officer included ICE contact regarding "another possible illegal'' in a "Weekly Report'' he wrote as a
23 member of the DMV Investigation Division.

24

150. DMV supervisors also frequently received direct emails evidencing the animus and

25 discriminatory intent. For example, on October 30, 2014, and many times thereafter, OMV Officer
26 Purdy emailed OMV Supervisor Mclntyre--a DMV supervisor-about forwarding information to
27 ICE officers. He emailed her again on November 7, 2014 to express frustration with the DPC
28

27

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 28 of 41

program and to infonn her that he forwarded ''a rather large list to ICE," writing that he understood

2 the purpose of the DPC program was to ·'accommodate illegal farm workers," but that "it doesn't

3 appear to me these are farm workers!" In that same email, Purdy asked McIntyre why the state is
4 ·'turning a blind eye toward illegals." And McIntyre received Purdy's email referring to people at the
5
DMV who "'appeared illegal" and '"appeared Mexican." 6

7

151. Additional emails from this time period demonstrate DMV' s association of ethnicity

8 and race with immigration status, and fixation on the perceived immigration status of DPC

9 applicants. For example, on December 4, 2014, a DMV employee wrote to a colleague in response to

10 an exchange about compiling a list of addresses and residents, ''Holy crap is right, we are being over

11 run [sic] by immigrants." Another DMV employee noted that mail from one of the investigated
12 addresses was "all [addressed to] 'South of the Border' names."
13

14

152. DMV staff would also regularly and routinely open investigations-including

15 contacting ICE-for no apparent reason other than the fact that the applicant presented a document

16 from a Latin American country as identification or otherwise appeared "foreign" because they were

17 non-white. In one case in July 2016, a DMV employee admitted that "We don't have a violation of
18 the DPC law,'" but sent the driver's information to ICE anyway. In another instance, in February
19 2016, a DMV employee sent a name to an ICE Agent and asked ICE "to check the guy for federal
20 warrants. deportation orders, etc.,'' despite there being no appearance of a violation. When ICE
21
22 responded that the applicant had lawful immigration status, the DMV employee then facilitated
23 checking the applicant's brother.

24

153. On September 23, 2016, a DMV investigator emailed to his supervisors a list of his

25 investigations broken down by race. The suspects of his investigations were disproportionately
26 Latino. Of 11 "Total Persons Encountered" between April 1 and September 23, 2016, the list notes
27 "10 Hispanic, 1 Caucasian,'' and a similar ratio of "8 Hispanic, 1 Caucasian" for investigations that
28

28

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 29 of 41

resulted in ''Suspend/Cancel," meaning the DPCs issued to the persons investigated were either

2 suspended or their issuance canceled. That breakdown, though anecdotal, stands in sharp contrast to

3 the breakdown of Vermont's population. Only about 10,900 Vermonters identify as ''Hispanic or
4 Latino (of any race)," while 585,154 people-93.4% of the total Vermont population-identify as
5
''White alone, not Hispanic or Latino."
6

7

154. DMV's conduct motivated by prejudice against non-white individuals particularly

8 Latinos, was so pervasive that, in an Investigative Report dated November 10, 2015, the Vermont

9 Human Rights Commission found reasonable cause to believe that OMV engaged in discriminatory

10 practices. These practices included falsifying information on an individual's OPC application by

11 checking a box for "proof of legal status" which the individual had left blank and then investigating
12 him for purportedly providing that false information. The OMV applied its investigatory and referral
13
policy-which the Report characterized as ··vague"-in a discriminatory fashion. 14

15

155. The Human Rights Commission found that the DMV had worked to entrap the same

16 individual and facilitate his arrest into ICE custody. The report noted specifically that the DMV's

17 conduct-routing a DPC applicant into ICE custody because of their suspected immigration status-
18 was "at odds with the very intent of the [Driver Privilege Card] law,'" thereby engaging in "exactly 19
the thing that the DPC law was designed to prevent.'' (emphasis in original). The Commission 20
concluded that "no white citizen [Driver Privilege Card] applicants have ever been referred [to 21
22 immigration officials] for investigation," while many non-white individuals had been, and that the

23 DMV was "markedly hostile and objectively unreasonable'' to the claimant "because of [his] status

24 as a non-white [] person [of Middle Eastern ethnicity].''

25

156. On July 11, 2016, responding to the Human Rights Commission's investigations,

26 Nancy Prescott, OMV Branch Operations Manager, instructed OMV employees by email that they
27 "shouldn't be contacting homeland/ice at any point without being advised." [sic]
28

29

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 30 of 41

1

157. On August 25, 2016, the OMV entered a settlement agreement to resolve the

2 investigation concerning the pervasive anti-immigrant bias (''Settlement Agreement").
3 158. The Settlement Agreement, inter alia, sharply restricted the DMV's ability to transmit
4 a DPC applicant's information to ICE. For instance, Section 2 of the Settlement Agreement provides:
5 ·'That subject to the provisions of the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act, absent subpoena or a criminal
6
7 warrant, OPC information contained on Applications shall be confidential including but not limited to

8 information related to legal presence, or national origin."

9

159. The Drivers' Privacy Protection Act does not require the DMV to share confidential

10 information with ICE for immigration enforcement purposes.
11 160. The prohibition extends beyond immigration status to other aspects of the application,
12 such as the form itself and information accompanying the form, such as photos and vehicle
13
registration information. The settlement agreement also required DMV "to adopt the essential 14

15 elements of the Model Fair & Impartial Policing ('FIP') policy as adopted by the Vermont Criminal

16 Justice Training Council [ ] as well as all of the non-essential elements [not listed here].'' The FIP

17 policy that OMV was required to adopt included the following provisions:

18 • "Federal law does not grant local and state agencies authority to enforce civil immigration
19 law. Similarly, state law does not grant local and state agencies authority to enforce
20
immigration laws .... The DMV shall not dedicate time or resources to the enforcement 21

22

o_ffederal immigration law where the only violation oflaw is presence in the United States

23

without authorization or documentation.'' (emphasis added).

24

• Similarly, DMV officials "shall not facilitate the detention of undocumented individuals

25

or individuals suspected of being undocumented by federal immigration authorities for

26 suspected civil immigration violations.''
27

28

30

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 31 of 41

1

161. In a memorandum dated January 31, 2017, Michael A. Smith, DMV Director of

2 Operations, relayed the terms of the settlement to all DMV staff statewide. The memo directed: ·'DO
3 NOT run [immigration status] checks on undocumented applicants," regardless of the documentation
4 submitted.
5 162. Yet, notwithstanding entering into the Settlement Agreement and issuing this
6
7 guidance, DMV staff still engage in a policy, pattern, and practice of anti-immigrant animus and

8 DMV leadership does not ensure that staff refrain from discriminatory conduct.

9

163. For example, staff continue to share information and otherwise cooperate with ICE-

10 even when such cooperation is contrary to agency policy. In April 2017, a DMV investigator told
11 Seven Days, a Vermont news publication, that the settlement and FIP policy ''doesn't make any
12 difference" for his work. He also stated: "I'm not familiar with the settlement because, really, I don't
13
have any interest with the settlement.'' 14

15

164. Further, in 2017, DMV staff shared information with immigration enforcement

16 agencies about the following Individual Plaintiffs and Migrant Justice members:

17

• On March 9, 2017, a DMV employee sent the license plate information for Plaintiff

18

Balcazar Sanchez to an ICE Officer.

19

• On March 13, 2017, a DMV employee transmitted Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's DPC

application to an ICE Officer. In the margins of the application, a DMV employee had

20

written the words "UNDOCUMENTED'' and "PRIVILEGE CARD.'' The DMV also

provided other personally identifying documents. See supra, ,r 85.
21

22

• On March 15, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Carrillo Sanchez. The 1-

213 that ICE wrote for Carrillo Sanchez notes that ICE determined his alienage

23

through his Vermont DMV DPC application, including a copy of his Mexican

passport and his Mexican birth certificate. The DMV would have transmitted this

24

information to ICE on or about March 2017. See supra, ,r 72.

25

• On June 19, 2017, a DMV employee provided information about Migrant Justice

26

member Peche Ventura's DPC application and vehicular information to ICE officials.
See supra, ,r I 06.

27

28

31

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 32 of 41

165. Recent public records requests confirm that DMV staff continues a pattern and

2 practice of sharing information with ICE and Border Patrol motivated by a dislike of non-white
3 individuals, and Latinos in particular.
4 166. Records obtained via a public records request in 2018 show that DMV continued to
5 respond to ICE inquiries, voluntarily providing ICE with confidential information including photos,
6
7 car registration information, and copies of applications. The routine nature of these communications

8 suggests a regular, ongoing practice.

9

167. Furthermore, after the publication of emails between ICE and OMV in October 2016,

10 which painted the OMV in a critical light, OMV employees have chosen to limit their electronic mail
11 communications and have undertaken to communicate with ICE via telephone. For example, after the
12 Settlement Agreement, in a December 1, 2016 email, a OMV investigator forwarded his emails with
13 14 ICE in response to a public records request, noting that "[m]ost of my interactions [with ICE] have
15 been via phone.''

16

168. This ongoing cooperation between the OMV, ICE, and CBP is enabled by OMV

17 supervisors who tum a blind eye to the discriminatory conduct of their staff. There are only four
18 Criminal Investigators in the OMV Investigations Unit, overseen by two Criminal Unit Supervisors 19
and a Chief Inspector. Given the pattern of information-sharing by OMV officers, as well as OMV 20
officers' documented animus against Latinos and other non-white individuals-in some instances 21
22 documented in emails to OMV supervisors-OMV supervisors know of or should know of the

23 ongoing constitutional violations.

24

25

26

27

28

32

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 33 of 41

COUNT ONE

VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

2

OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

3

(INTERFERENCE WITH FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION)

(All Plaintiffs against OHS Defendants)

4

5

169. The right to expressive association •'is implicit in the right to engage in activities

6 protected by the First Amendment." Roberts v. Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609, 622 (1984). To have a

7 protectable right of expressive association, ··a group must engage in some form of expression,

8 whether it is public or private." Boy Scouts ofAmerica v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640,648 (2000).

9

170. Plaintiffs have engaged and continue to engage in protected speech and conduct.

10 Individual Plaintiffs, through their membership in Migrant Justice, have engaged and continue to

11 engage in political activism and advocacy against discriminatory government practices. A key part of

12 their activism is meeting with other migrant workers to discuss and analyze shared problems and to

13 envision collective solutions. Plaintiff Migrant Justice continues its efforts to encourage greater

14 numbers of migrant workers in Vermont to join the organization and advocate for their rights.

15

171. By targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, and engaging in disinformation towards Migrant

16 Justice members, Defendants directly and substantially interfere with Individual Plaintiffs' ability to

17 associate with Migrant Justice and with Migrant Justice and its members' ability to join together.

18 Defendants have caused a significant chill oflndividual Plaintiffs' and Migrant Justice's members'

19 rights to associate. Defendants' comments that associate immigration enforcement with Migrant

20 Justice activity and their ongoing surveillance and infiltration, have instilled in Plaintiffs and other

21 members and potential members ongoing fear of reprisal that has limited Plaintiffs' ability to

22 associate freely.

23 172. Plaintiffs-Migrant Justice on its own behalf and on behalf of its membership, as well

24 as all Individual Plaintiffs-wish to continue engaging in their First Amendment-protected activities

25 to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future conduct,

26 are deterred from doing so.

27

28

33

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 34 of 41

173. Defendants' targeting, infiltration. disinformation campaign, and surveillance of

2 Migrant Justice serves no compelling governmental interest. Nor does it reflect the least restrictive

3 means of engaging in immigration enforcement activities.

4

174. Defendants' actions cause Plaintiffs significant harm, including chilling Plaintiffs'

5 speech, frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant resources, 6 as well as financial harm.

7

175. Individual Plaintiffs have reason to fear that ICE may take continued action that

8 infringes on their associational rights, for example by revoking their bond for participation in Migrant

9 Justice activities.

COUNT TWO

10

VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

11

OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

(FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM TO PETITION)

12

(All Plaintiffs against DHS Defendants)

13

176. ''The rights to complain to public officials and to seek administrative and judicial

14 relief are protected by the First Amendment.'" Gagliardi v. Vil!. ofPawling, 18 F.3d. 188, 194 (2d

15 Cir. 1994). "[T]o petition for a redress of grievances is among the most precious of liberties

16 safeguarded by the Bill of Rights'' and is "intimately connected ... with other First Amendment

17 rights of free speech and free press." Id. at 195 (internal alterations and quotation marks omitted).

18

177. Plaintiffs have engaged and continue to engage in protected speech and conduct.

19 Individual Plaintiffs, through their membership in Migrant Justice, Inc., have engaged and continue to

20 engage in protected speech including, but not limited to, Migrant Justice's continuous political

21 activism and advocacy to safeguard the right to freedom of movement and access to transportation, to

22 freedom from discrimination, and to improved living and working conditions. Plaintiffs' activism

23 has included petitioning elected officials to intervene and government agencies to provide relief

24 against discriminatory government practices.

25

178. Defendants are engaged in a campaign of targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, providing

26 disinfonnation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice and its members, including Individual

27 Plaintiffs, that goes beyond legitimate law enforcement and surveillance activities.

28

34

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 35 of 41

179. Defendants engagement in these activities undermines Migrant Justice's efforts and 2 abridges Migrant Justice and its members' ability to engage in protected speech and petition 3 activities.

4

180. Defendants actions inhibit reasonable migrant workers from fully exercising their

5 rights to engage in speech and to petition the government.

6

181. Defendants actions have significantly affected Plaintiffs' ability to advocate their

7 viewpoints and have caused a significant chill of Plaintiffs' rights to speak freely and petition the

8 government under the First Amendment. Defendants' targeting, surveillance, and harassment,

9 actions would not have occurred but for Plaintiffs' protected speech.

10

182. Plaintiffs-Migrant Justice on its own behalf and on behalf of its membership, as well

11 as all the Individual Plaintiffs-wish to continue engaging in their First Amendment-protected 12 activities to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future

13 conduct, are deterred from doing so.

14

183. Defendants cause Plaintiffs significant harm, including chilling Plaintiffs' speech,

15 frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant resources, as well

16 as financial harm. 17 18 19

COUNT THREE VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
(RETALIATION) (Migrant Justice against all OHS Defendants)

20

184. To prevail on a First Amendment retaliation claim, a plaintiff must show "(1) that the

21 speech or conduct at issue was protected, (2) that the defendant took adverse action against the

22 plaintiff, and (3) that there was a causal connection between the protected speech and the adverse

23 action.'' Gonzalez v. Hasty, 802 F.3d 212,222 (2d Cir. 2015) (quotation marks omitted).

24

185. Migrant Justice has engaged and continues to engage in protected speech and conduct.

25 Its members have engaged and continue to engage in political activism and advocacy against

26 discriminatory government practices.

27 28

35

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 36 of 41

186. By targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, and spreading disinformation to Migrant Justice

2 members, Defendants significantly affect the organization's ability to advocate its viewpoints and

3 hinder Migrant Justice's ability to advocate for economic protections for migrant farmworkers.

4

187. Defendants' prior retaliatory conduct, including but not limited to surveillance and

5 infiltration, have instilled in Migrant Justice's members an ongoing fear ofreprisal that has limited

6 the ability of its members to speak and associate freely and has therefore chilled the organization's

7 speech as a whole. Migrant Justice's First Amendment-protected activity motivates Defendants'

8 targeting, surveillance, infiltration, and disinformation activities, which would not occur but for the

9 organization's protected speech.

10

188. Migrant Justice wishes to continue engaging in its First Amendment-protected

11 activities to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future

12 conduct, the organization has been deterred from being able to do so.

13

189. Defendants' actions cause Migrant Justice significant harm, including chilling

14 members' speech, frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant

15 resources, as well as financial harm.

COUNT FOUR

16

VIOLATION OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

17

(EQUAL PROTECTION)

(Plaintiff Migrant Justice, on behalf of its Members, against Defendant Minoli)

18

19

190. Plaintiffs bring this claim against Defendant Minoli in her official capacity under 42

20 U.S.C. § 1983 and Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908).

21

191. OMV employees consistently share personally identifying information about Plaintiffs

22 with ICE. This information-sharing disproportionately targets and impacts non-white and Latino
23
residents, and arises out of pervasive animus within the Vermont OMV against such individuals. 24

25

192. By sharing personally identifying information in this way and with this motivation,

26 Defendants deny Plaintiffs equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const., Amend. XIV,§ 1.

27

193. The OMV were motivated by animus against non-white and Latino individuals.

28

36

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 37 of 41

1

COUNT FIVE

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

2

(INVASION OF PRIVACY: INTRUSION ON SECLUSION)

3

(All Plaintiffs against Defendant United States)

194. Plaintiff Migrant Justice asserts this claim on behalf of its membership. 4

195. Plaintiffs adequately exhausted their administrative remedies as required under 28 5

U.S.C. § 2675 by filing federal tort claims against OHS on the basis of the incidents alleged. OHS 6

7 denied all claims by letters dated June 11, 2018.

196. By committing the above-described acts, including but not limited to enlisting an 8

informant to surveil Plaintiffs at non-public meetings and in private spaces, eavesdropping on private 9

conversations and engaging in physical surveillance and harassment, Defendants committed a 10

11 substantial and highly offensive interference within Plaintiffs' solitude.

12

197. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of duties, Plaintiffs have

13 suffered and continue to suffer damages.

14

198. Plaintiffs are entitled to damages against the United States for invasion of privacy to

15 the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be determined by the trier

16 of fact.

17

199. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

18 these actions.

COUNT SIX

19

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

(INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS)

20

(All Plaintiffs against Defendant United States)

21

200. Plaintiffs adequately exhausted their administrative remedies as required under 28

22 U.S.C. § 2675 by filing federal tort claims against OHS on the basis of the incidents alleged. OHS

23 denied all claims by letters dated June 11, 2018.

24

20 I. By committing the above-described acts, including but not limited to ongoing

25 surveillance and harassment, the knowledge obtained from which was used to intimidate Plaintiffs, as

26 well as arrests conducted in a public and unnecessarily aggressive manner, Defendants, engaging in

27 intentional extreme and outrageous conduct, caused Plaintiffs to suffer extreme emotional distress.

28

37

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 38 of 41

202. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of duties, Plaintiffs have

2 suffered and continue to suffer damages.

3

203. Plaintiffs are entitled to damages against the United States for intentional infliction of

4 emotional distress to the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be

5 determined by the trier of fact.

6

204. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

7 these actions.

COUNT SEVEN

8

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

9

(FALSE IMPRISONMENT)

Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez against Defendant United States)

10 205. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez adequately exhausted his administrative remedies as

11 required under 28 U.S.C. § 2675 by filing a federal tort claim against DHS on the basis of his March

12 17, 2017 arrest. DHS denied Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's claim on June 11, 2018.

13 206. Here, Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez shows that a person intentionally confined him

14 without the privilege to do so, and that person was conscious of the confinement.

15 207. By arresting and detaining Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez pursuant to a retaliatory official

16 policy related to his First Amendment-protected activity, Defendants confined him without the

17 privilege to do so. Regardless of whether there was probable cause for an arrest, law enforcement

18 officials lack the privilege to arrest an individual pursuant to a retaliatory policy. The confinement

19 caused Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez injury.

20 208. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' breaches of duties, Plaintiff Balcazar

21 Sanchez has suffered and continues to suffer damages.

22 209. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez is entitled to damages against the United States for false

23 imprisonment to the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be

24 determined by the trier of fact.

25

210. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

26 these actions.

27 PRAYER FOR RELIEF

28 WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:

38

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 39 of 41

A. 2 3 4 5
6
7 8 9 B. 10 11 12 13
14
15 16 17 18 19 C. 20 21 22 D. 23
24
25
26 27
28

Declare that DHS Defendants' actions violate Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights by (1) infringing on their right to free association without a compelling governmental interest or using narrowly tailored means; (2) unlawfully targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinformation, and harassing individuals to interfere with their ability to exercise their rights to free speech and to petition the government; and (3) unlawfully targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinfonnation, and harassing individuals as retaliation for their prior exercise of the right to free speech and free association and the right to petition the government; Enjoin the DHS Defendants and any of their officers, agents, successors, employees, representatives and any and all persons acting in concert with them, prohibiting them from: 1. Targeting, surveilling, infiltrating and spreading disinformation against Migrant Justice
and its members; 2. Surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinformation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice
members to inhibit the exercise of their rights to speech, association, and petition; 3. Surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinformation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice
members in retaliation for their prior exercise of their rights to speech, association, and petition; 4. Using a confidential informant to complete any of the above; Declare that the DMV's actions violate Plaintiffs' Equal Protection rights by sharing information with ICE in a manner that is motivated by animus against Latinos and other nonwhite individuals; Grant injunctive relief against Defendant Minoli and any of her officers, agents, successors, employees, representatives and any and all persons acting in concert with her: 1. Prohibiting DMV employees from sharing information or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agencies motivated by animus against Latino individuals or other non-white individuals; and

39

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 40 of 41

1

2. Requiring DMV supervisors to take affirmative measures to train OMV employees and to

2

supervise OMV employees to ensure that no discriminatory information-sharing or

3

cooperation persists;

4 E. Award Plaintiffs nominal, compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages under the Federal

5

Tort Claims Act for the Vermont torts of intrusion on seclusion, intentional infliction of

6

emotional distress, and false imprisonment;

7 F. Award pre-judgment and post-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;

8 G. Award Plaintiffs their costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees under 42

9

U.S.C. § 1988 and the Equal Access to Justice Act, 5 U.S.C. § 504, 28 U.S.C. § 2412; and

10 H. Award such further and additional relief as is just and proper.

11

12

Respectfully submitted,

13

14 Date: November 14, 2018
Burlington, Vermont 15

16

James M. Diaz

17

ACLU FOUNDATION OF VERMONT

P.O. Box 277

18

Montpelier, VT 05601

(802) 223-6304

19

lemst@acluvt.org

jdiaz@acluvt.org 20

Claudia Wilner*

21

Marc Cohan*

NATIONAL CENTER FOR LAW AND

22

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1506

23

New York, New York 10001-6860

(212) 633-6967

24

wilner@nclej.org

cohan@nclej.org 25

Angelo Guisado*

26

Ghita Schwarz*

Guadalupe Aguirre*

27

CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

666 Broadway, 7th floor

28

New York, NY 10012

212-614-6454

40

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 1 Filed 11/14/18 Page 41 of 41

A Guisado@ccrjustice.org

GSchwarz@ccrjustice.org

2

LAguirre@ccrjustice.org

3

Trudy S. Rebert*

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER

4

PO Box 721361

Jackson Heights, NY 11372

5

(646) 867-8793

rebert@nilc.org

6

Joshua Rosenthal*

7

Joshua Stehlik*

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER

8

3450 Wilshire Blvd, #108-62

Los Angeles, CA 90010

9

(213) 639-3900

rosenthal@nilc.org

10

stehlik@nilc.org

11

Joel M. Cohen*

Amanda Aycock*

12

Jaclyn Neely*

GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP

13

200 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10166

14

(212) 351-4000

J Cohen@gibsondunn.com

15

16 * Pro Hae Vice Applications Forthcoming
17 Counsel.for Plaint([fe
18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

41

 
 Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc

Document 22

Filed 02/07/19

: /
Page 1 of 42 . 'U~~; Of_STRlC.T CO!J~T Db; R!CT OF VERFCNT FILED ' I

1

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2019 FEB - 7 AN JO: 33

2

DISTRICT OF VERMONT

CLERK

3 MIGRANT JUSTICE, a Vermont corporation,

4

on its own behalf and on behalf of its members; JOSE ENRIQUE BALCAZAR SANCHEZ;

ZULLY PALACIOS RODRIGUEZ; JOSE 5 VICTOR GARCIA DIAZ;;

{dyy Case No. Case No. 5:18-c~)i~
E?ury CLERK

6

Plaintiffs,

7

V.

8 KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS);
9 RONALD VITIELLO, Deputy/Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs
IO Enforcement (ICE); MATTHEW ALBENCE, ICE/DHS Executive Associate Director,
11 Enforcement and Removal Operations; WANDA MINOLI, Vermont Department of
12 Motor Vehicles (DMV) Commissioner; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;
13
Defendants. 14

15

16

FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

17

INTRODUCTION

18

I. Migrant Justice organizes and advocates for Vermont's immigrant farmworkers-a

19 community of approximately 1,500 people who labor long hours under grueling and often dangerous

20 conditions. The organization has achieved remarkable success in organizing workers to assemble,

21 publicly protest, march, and assert their perspectives in the larger marketplace of commerce and

22 ideas. Migrant Justice's members have identified four core areas of organizational focus: dignified

23 work and quality housing, freedom of movement and access to transportation, freedom from

24 discrimination, and access to healthcare.

25

2. In the course of its advocacy, Migrant Justice has loudly and publicly criticized U.S.

26 Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE"). ICE has retaliated, and continues to retaliate, by

27 disrupting Plaintiffs' advocacy and infringing upon their First Amendment rights.

28

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 2 of 42

1

3. ICE has infiltrated Migrant Justice's private meetings; targeted, surveilled, and

2 engaged in disinformation campaigns to sow distrust among its members; and arrested and/or

3 detained no fewer than twenty active Migrant Justice members, including the Individual Plaintiffs-

4 each of whom played and continues to play a critical role in Migrant Justice's advocacy.

5

4. ICE takes these actions because Plaintiffs are engaged in First Amendment activities

6 and to deter them and others from engaging in similar activity.

7

5. ICE advances its retaliatory agenda with the assistance of the Vermont Department of

8 Motor Vehicles ("DMV"). Motivated by racial and xenophobic animus, DMV employees give ICE

9 private driver information, including the personal information and location, of non-white,

10 predominately Latino, individuals.

11

6. ICE's actions have chilled and continue to chill Migrant Justice's ability to organize

12 and advocate for migrant workers. Fewer members attend community assemblies, events, protests,

13 and rallies. Migrant Justice finds it more difficult to enlist members to speak at public events. ICE

14 has also frustrated Migrant Justice's ability to advocate for fair labor practices and economic justice.

15 Time and money once dedicated to this mission are now used to advance funds towards immigration

16 bonds and attorneys' fees and to fight detentions of members.

17

7. As for the Individual Plaintiffs, not only has ICE chilled their speech and interfered

18 with their association, but ICE's surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention of them has caused

19 and continues to cause them significant emotional distress.

20

8. Plaintiffs seek injunctive and declaratory relief to end Defendants' unlawful and

21 discriminatory practices, as well as monetary damages against the United States.

22

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

23

9. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 (federal

24 question), 1343 (civil rights), and 1346 (United States as Defendant), and 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The

25 Court has authority to grant declaratory relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2201.

26

10. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 139l(b)(2) because a substantial part

27 of the events giving rise to Plaintiffs' claims occurred in this district, under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(l)

28 because the DMV is located in the district, and also under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e) because Defendants

2

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 3 of 42

1 Nielsen, Vitiello, and Albence are officers and employees of the United States or its agencies

2 operating under color of law, and a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the

3 claims have occurred and are occurring in this judicial district.

4

PARTIES

5

A. Plaintiffs

6

11. Plaintiff Migrant Justice, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that was

7 established in 2009. Migrant Justice's mission is "to build the voice, capacity, and power of the

8 farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human

9 rights. [Migrant Justice] gathers the farmworker community to discuss and analyze shared problems

10 and to envision collective solutions. Through this ongoing investment in leadership development,

11 members deepen their skills in community education and organizing for long-term systemic change."

12 More than 90 percent of Migrant Justice members are Latino. Migrant Justice brings this lawsuit on

13 its own behalf, as well as on behalf of its members.

14

12. Plaintiff Jose Victor Garcia Diaz has been an active and visible Migrant Justice

15 member since 2013. He is a dairy worker in Vermont and a nationally-recognized human rights

16 leader. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz contacted Migrant Justice after enduring years of inhumane conditions

17 on a Vermont dairy farm. He became a leader in an effort by farmworkers and allies to march on the

18 Ferrisburgh farm that employed him and as a result won nearly $2,000 in back wages for dairy

19 workers. As a member of Migrant Justice's Farmworker Coordinating Committee, Plaintiff Garcia

20 Diaz helped build the Milk with Dignity Program, which seeks to establish fundamental labor

21 protections for the Vermont dairy worker community. To this end, Plaintiff Garcia Diaz represented

22 his community in meetings and negotiations with Ben & Jerry's, a prominent Vermont, national, and

23 international purchaser of dairy products, during the process of the company committing to join the

24 Milk with Dignity Program. He resides and has resided in Vermont during the events relevant to this

25 Complaint and is Latino.

26

13. Plaintiff Jose Enrique "Kike" Balcazar Sanchez has been an active and visible

27 Migrant Justice member since 2011. He is a leader with Migrant Justice and a former dairy worker.

28 He continues to be one of Migrant Justice's primary spokespeople. He was a lead spokesperson in its

3

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 4 of 42

1 campaign to expand access to driving privileges and for a fair and impartial policing policy to limit

2 law enforcement collaboration with ICE. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez was also one of the primary

3 architects of the Milk with Dignity Program. He helped lead the campaign that resulted in Ben &

4 Jerry's committing to join the Milk with Dignity Program in 2015, and he was central to securing

5 finalization of Ben & Jerry's commitment in 2017. He has appeared routinely in local and national

6 press coverage for several years. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez serves on the Vermont Attorney

7 General's Immigration Task Force, representing immigrant farmworkers, helping to craft a guidance

8 manual for Vermont cities and towns regarding their role in immigration law enforcement, and

9 advocating for policies to provide stronger protections for Vermont's immigrant communities. He

10 resides and has resided in Vermont during the events relevant to this Complaint and is Latino.

11

14. Plaintiff Zolly Palacios Rodriguez has been an active and visible Migrant Justice

12 member since 2016. She was a vocal leader in Migrant Justice's women's group, which organizes

13 groups of women who are immigrant farmworkers. She became involved with Migrant Justice in

14 2016, aiding in a successful campaign to free then-detained Migrant Justice leader and co-Plaintiff

15 Garcia Diaz. She participated in the successful campaign to secure a commitment from Ben &

16 Jerry's to join the Milk with Dignity Program. Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez is involved in the

17 national movement for immigrant rights and food justice, representing Migrant Justice in gatherings

18 of the Food Chain Workers Alliance and the Cosecha Movement. She resides and has resided in

19 Vermont during the events relevant to this Complaint and is Latina.

20

B. Defendants

21 Federal Defendants

22

15. Defendant Kirstjen Nielsen is Secretary of the United States Department of

23 Homeland Security ("OHS"). In this capacity, she is charged with enforcing and administering U.S.

24 immigration laws. She is sued in her official capacity.

25

16. Defendant Ronald Vitiello is the Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the

26 Duties of Director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In this capacity, he is charged

27 with administering the enforcement of United States immigration law. He is sued in his official

28 capacity.

4

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 5 of 42

1

17. Defendant Matthew Albence is the Executive Associate Director ofICE's

2 Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO") and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Deputy

3 Director. He is sued in his official capacity.

4

18. Defendants Nielsen, Vitiello, and Albence are collectively referred to herein as "DHS

5 Defendants." At all relevant times, DHS Defendants were acting under color of law, as agents,

6 employees, and/or representatives of the United States.

7

19. Defendant United States of America is sued for Plaintiffs' injuries caused by the

8 wrongful acts or omissions of its employees. Those employees were acting within the scope of their

9 employment under circumstances in which the United States, if a private person, would be liable to

10 Plaintiffs according to the laws of Vermont.

11 Vermont DMVDefendant

12

20. Defendant Wanda Minoli is the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Motor

13 Vehicles. In this capacity, she is charged with enforcing and administering the regulations governing

14 the DMV, the governmental agency responsible for registering and inspecting automobiles and other

15 motor vehicles as well as licensing drivers in Vermont. At all relevant times, Defendant Minoli was

16 acting under color oflaw, as an agent, employee, and/or representative of Vermont. She is sued in

17 her official capacity.

18

21. Federal and DMV Defendants are collectively referred to herein as "Defendants."

19

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

20

A. Migrant Justice and Its Members Engage in Protected Speech, Win Changes that

21

Improve the Lives of Migrants, and Criticize ICE and the DMV.

22

22. Migrant Justice fights for the rights of the approximately 1,500 migrant farm workers

in Vermont. These workers typically work sixty to eighty hours per week, endure extreme isolation, 23

24 and are systemically excluded from many worker and housing rights protections.

23. Within the past decade, Migrant Justice's organizing and advocacy has focused on 25

26 improving working conditions at dairy farms across the state; partnering with the Vermont Workers'

27 Center to include undocumented people in Vermont's 2011 groundbreaking universal healthcare

legislation; winning tens of thousands of dollars in back wages through Migrant Justice's Workers' 28

5

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 6 of 42

1 Rights Hotline; and advocating for the Vermont Department of Labor to change employment law

2 related to collection of unpaid wages, among other activities.

3

1. Migrant Justice Improves Working Conditions Through the Milk with

Dignity Program.

4

24. One example of Migrant Justice's visible, groundbreaking advocacy is its high-profile 5

Milk with Dignity Program, a farmworker-driven initiative to improve conditions in dairy supply

6

chains. The Program rests on a participatory model in which workers, farmers, consumers, and retail 7

corporations align values and work together to build a fair food system. 8

25. Starting in 2014, Migrant Justice focused its campaign for the Milk with Dignity

9

Program on ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry's, an influential company headquartered within 10

Vermont that purchases vast amounts of milk from the local dairy-farming community. 11

26. In June 2015, after persistent public advocacy by Migrant Justice, Ben & Jerry's 12

signed a written commitment to negotiate an agreement with Migrant Justice to join the Milk with 13

Dignity Program. The New York Times heralded the commitment as an "innovative movement[] ... 14

to improve wages and working conditions." The Christian Science Monitor_ called the June 2015 15

agreement "an important agreement with Ben & Jerry's to recognize the fundamental human rights of 16

migrant workers in dairy supply chains."

17

27. After signing the commitment, however, Ben & Jerry's delayed in signing a formal 18

agreement to join the Program. Migrant Justice and its members then engaged in more than two 19

years of advocacy, community organizing, and escalating public protest to win allies and increase 20

pressure on Ben & Jerry's. Finally, on October 3, 2017, Ben & Jerry's signed a formal agreement to 21

join Milk with Dignity. 22

2. Migrant Justice's First Amendment Activity Frustrates ICE's Agenda by

23

Protecting Migrant Workers from Deportation.

24

28. In 2011, Migrant Justice launched one of its first campaigns against an ICE policy.

25 Migrant Justice opposed ICE's Secure Communities Program, under which local law enforcement

26 shared fingerprints with ICE.

27

29. On August 18, 2011, Migrant Justice member Danilo Lopez hand-delivered a petition

28 signed by more than 70 farmworkers to then-Governor Peter Shumlin. The petition asked Governor

6

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 7 of 42

1 Shumlin to publicly "say no" to Secure Communities because it "threatens our security," "promotes

2 racial discrimination," and lacks transparency.

3

30. Three weeks later, Vermont state police stopped a car for speeding in which Lopez

4 was a passenger. Although he was not the driver and state police are not responsible for enforcing

5 immigration law, state police handed Lopez over to U.S. Border Patrol.

6

31. In response to Lopez's arrest, on September 13, 2011, Migrant Justice organized its

7 first protest against ICE for a member's detention. Migrant Justice alleged that the incident violated

8 the state police's existing bias-free policing policy and pushed the state government to adopt an

9 expanded bias-free policing policy. Governor Shumlin and the Vermont Human Rights Commission

10 opened separate investigations into Lopez's arrest.

11

32. Migrant Justice continued campaigning to prevent Lopez's deportation, urging ICE to

12 grant a stay of removal. Migrant Justice enlisted support from Vermont's entire Congressional

13 delegation-Senior United States Senator Patrick Leahy and Junior United States Senator Bernard

14 Sanders and United States Representative Peter Welch-as well as Governor Shumlin and Burlington

15 Mayor Miro Weinberger, all of whom wrote letters urging ICE to exercise its prosecutorial discretion

16 in Lopez's favor. ICE granted Lopez a stay of removal.

17

33. In November 2011, Governor Shumlin announced that the Vermont State Police had

18 adopted an expanded bias-free policing policy aimed at preventing discrimination on the basis of

19 race, ethnicity, or immigration status. The expanded policy limited state involvement in federal

20 immigration enforcement by restricting when officers could inquire about immigration status.

21

34. Migrant Justice continued to campaign for improved bias-free policing policies. In

22 2012, the Vermont legislature enacted a new law requiring all law enforcement agencies in Vermont

23 to adopt bias-free policing policies. 2012 Acts & Resolves No. 134, § 2 (codified at 20 V.S.A.

24 § 2366 (2012)).

25

35. In 2014, Vermont passed Act 193, a law mandating collection of roadside stop data

26 and establishing a process and timeline for the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council to adopt a

27 model Fair and Impartial Policing policy. 2014 Vt. Acts & Resolves No. 193, § 3 (codified at 20

28 V.S.A. § 2366 (2014)). The legislation explicitly directed the Criminal Justice Training Council to

7

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 8 of 42

I "consult[] with stakeholders, including the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the Vermont

2 Human Rights Commission, and Migrant Justice."

3

36. In February 2015, Migrant Justice assisted a member, Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas, to file

4 a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission against the Grand Isle County Sheriffs

5 Department. A deputy had stopped a car driven by a Migrant Justice volunteer in which Alcudia

6 Gamas rode in the passenger seat, on his way to a community meeting as a representative of Migrant

7 Justice.

8

37. The deputy issued the Caucasian driver a warning for speeding but turned Alcudia

9 Gamas over to U.S. Border Patrol. The Vermont Human Rights Commission concluded that there

10 were reasonable grounds to believe that the Sheriffs Department had discriminated against Alcudia

11 Gamas on the basis of his national origin and race. In April 2016, the Sheriffs Department settled

12 with Alcudia Gamas and the Human Rights Commission for nearly $30,000.

13

38. In 2016, Vermont passed Act 147, a law establishing deadlines for the completion of

14 fair and impartial policing training and in-service training. 2016 Vt. Acts & Resolves No. 147, § 26

15 (codified at 20 V.S.A. 2366 (2016)). Migrant Justice had advocated for the passage of this law.

16

39. Migrant Justice continues advocating and organizing to promote fair and impartial

17 policing policies to this day.

18

40. Migrant Justice also actively campaigns to prevent the deportation of members

19 arrested by federal immigration authorities, by organizing public support to lobby immigration

20 officials and submit support letters in immigration court, engaging in social media campaigns, and

21 serving as a resource to connect community members to legal help. Migrant Justice has publicly

22 campaigned to stop the deportation of eleven members.

23

3. Migrant Justice's Activism Around Driver Privilege Cards Placed and

Continues to Place ICE and the Vermont DMV in the Public Spotlight. 24

41. Beginning in 2012, Migrant Justice and its members embarked on a long and

25

ultimately successful legislative campaign to create the Vermont "Driver Privilege Card" ("DPC"),

26

which permits Vermont residents to drive within the state, regardless of immigration status. Plaintiff

27

Balcazar Sanchez and Migrant Justice member Danilo Lopez, described by the statewide news 28

website VTDigger as a "frequent presence" at the Vermont Statehouse, led the campaign.

8

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 9 of 42

1

42. In 2013, after more than a year of campaigning, lobbying, and organizing by Migrant

2 Justice members, the Vermont legislature passed the DPC legislation. It became effective on January

3 1, 2014. 2013 Acts & Resolves No. 74 (codified at 23 V.S.A. § 603).

4

43. The DPC provided a solution for migrant workers who did not have the documentation

5 required by the federal REAL ID act to obtain driver's licenses, yet who needed to drive in order to

6 work and meet basic needs within a rural state. The DPC also proved popular for many other

7 Vermont residents who needed to drive within the state but did not want or could not obtain a REAL

8 ID-compliant driver's license.

9

44. More than 40,000 Vermont residents obtained a DPC in a little over a year.

10

45. In early 2014, the DMV began sending personally identifying information obtained

11 from DPC applications to ICE and scheduling appointments to facilitate ICE arrests.

12

46. As one of the only community organizations in the State working with Latinos,

13 Migrant Justice quickly became the point-organization to assist individuals struggling to access

14 DPCs. Migrant Justice advocated in the press, with elected officials, and with the agency itself to

15 investigate and reform practices, and publicly questioned the DMV's actions, particularly with regard

16 to state-federal law enforcement cooperation.

17

47. From 2016 through 2018, the ACLU of Vermont, in coordination with Migrant

18 Justice, filed a series of public records requests seeking information about the implementation of the

19 DPC program. The Vermont press reported extensively on the information obtained and in April

20 2017, the Vermont Senate held hearings about the DMV's information-sharing with ICE. Migrant

21 Justice became well known to DMV and ICE officials because of its public role. Migrant Justice's

22 advocacy relating to DPCs continues to the present day.

23

B. ICE Surveils, Infiltrates, Engages in Disinformation, Arrests, and Detains

24

Plaintiffs and Others to Retaliate and Chill Their First Amendment Rights.

25

48. Beginning in at least 2014, ICE has targeted, surveilled, and spread disinformation

about Migrant Justice, its staff, and its leaders. ICE has also arrested and detained no fewer than 26

twenty active Migrant Justice members and leaders. 27

28

9

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 10 of 42

1

49. The majority of these arrests did not fit within ICE's internal priorities for

2 enforcement. Rather, they occurred contemporaneously with and in response to the increasing

3 visibility and activism of Migrant Justice in challenging misconduct by the Vermont OMV and

4 abusive ICE practices in Latino and worker communities.

5

50. While these Migrant Justice members were detained, ICE interrogated them without

6 counsel; interrogated them about circumstances clearly beyond ICE's jurisdiction; ridiculed them;

7 and threatened them with indefinite detention.

8

1. ICE Arrests Plaintiff Jose Victor Garcia Diaz and Specifically Notes His

Affiliation with Migrant Justice on His Arrest Documents.
9

51. On April 18, 2016, a OHS/ICE Deportation Officer requested Plaintiff Jose Victor

10

Garcia Diaz's photograph and DPC application from the Vermont OMV. A OMV Enforcement

11

Division Administrative Supervisor complied on April 19, 2016.

12

52. On April 20, 2016, Plaintiff Garcia Diaz returned to Vermont from Los Angeles where 13

he had represented Migrant Justice at a well-publicized conference for the Food Chain Workers

14

Alliance, a national coalition of labor rights organizations. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz posted on Facebook

15

about his traveling to the conference and his anticipated participation in a cultural event the next day.

16

53. On April 21, 2016, ICE agents arrested Plaintiff Garcia Diaz in a parking lot outside of

17

the cultural event in Stowe, Vermont. Plaintiff Garcia Diaz was with Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez

18

and Balcazar Sanchez at the time of his arrest.

19

54. In paperwork documenting the arrest, the "Report of Deportable/lnadmissible Alien," 20

known as the Form 1-213, ICE Agent Brady Goff noted that Plaintiff Garcia Diaz was a "member and 21

associate of Migrant Justice." An internal ICE report issued on April 21, 2016 noted that Plaintiff

22

Garcia Diaz is a "well known and prominent member of Migrant Justice." ICE described Migrant

23

Justice as "a non-governmental organization in Vermont that advocates for the rights of migrant 24

farmworkers and other aliens. The organization was instrumental in the VT legislature's passing of

25

the law that grants driving privileges to undocumented aliens. Migrant Justice is vocal and public in 26

their opposition to immigration enforcement."

27

55. During his interrogation, ICE asked Plaintiff Garcia Diaz about an identification card 28

he possessed from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a prominent activist farmworker group in

10

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 11 of 42

1 Florida. ICE seized the card. The ICE agents knew ofthe Coalition oflmmokalee Workers and

2 commented on the organization in front of Plaintiff Garcia Diaz. ICE also seized his DPC. ICE has

3 not returned either piece of documentation.

4

56. After Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's arrest, Migrant Justice launched a series ofrallies to

5 support him. On April 22, 2016, Migrant Justice members assembled in Senator Leahy's office in

6 Burlington, Vermont, to protest ICE's conduct. On May 1, 2016, Migrant Justice organized a rally in

7 Montpelier attended by hundreds of individuals. As a result of Migrant Justice's petitioning, Senator

8 Leahy' s office stated its intent to intervene on Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's behalf and lobbied against ICE

9 practices in Washington, D.C. Senator Sanders followed shortly thereafter and also submitted a letter

10 to ICE supporting Plaintiff Garcia Diaz.

11

2. ICE Arrests Migrant Justice Member Alberto Sanchez Perez and Spreads

Disinformation about Migrant Justice Staff to Sow Distrust.

12

57. On August 24, 2016, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Alberto Sanchez Perez. 13

Sanchez Perez had no criminal record and did not qualify as a DHS enforcement priority under the 14

November 20, 2014 guidelines. ICE officers targeted Sanchez Perez and falsely claimed that they 15

needed to investigate the causes of a car accident in which he was a passenger. Although they had no 16

jurisdiction over the car accident, the ICE officers interrogated Sanchez Perez for several hours, held 17

him overnight, prevented him from contacting an attorney, and made multiple references to his 18

perceived sexual orientation. 19

58. ICE officers told Sanchez Perez that they had been discussing the accident with 20

Migrant Justice leader Marita Canedo and had asked Canedo to bring Sanchez Perez to the ICE 21

office, and that they would not have arrested Sanchez Perez if Canedo had given him a message that 22

they wanted to speak with him. 23

3. ICE Arrests Migrant Justice Member Miguel Alcudia Gamas and Warns

24

Him that "Kike" Is "Next."

25

59. ICE next arrested and detained Migrant Justice member Miguel Alcudia Gamas.

26 Alcudia Gamas has no criminal record and did not qualify as a OHS enforcement priority under the

27 November 20, 2014 guidelines.

28

11

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 12 of 42

1

60. Alcudia Gamas is the cousin of Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas, whose involvement in

2 Migrant Justice's advocacy for bias-free policing is discussed above.

3

61. On September 16, 2016, a DHS/ICE Deportation Officer requested from the Vermont

4 DMV Alcudia Gamas's photograph, his DPC application, and a list of vehicles registered in his

5 name.

6

62. A DMV employee complied, volunteered that Alcudia Gamas's license plate "was

7 recently issued," and asked if the DHS/ICE Deportation Officer "want[ed] the paperwork for that."

8

63. An ICE Important Federal Interest Memorandum ("IFI Memo") dated September 19,

9 2016, states that "continued prosecution of [Alcudia Gamas] would serve an important federal

10 interest" even though, according to the cover email accompanying the IFI Memo, Alcudia Gamas

11 was "not currently an ICE Enforcement Priority." The IFI Memo does not specify the reasons for

12 this determination, which was made as a matter of "prosecutorial discretion."

13

64. ICE surveilled Alcudia Gamas and arrested him on September 22, 2016. ICE

14 identified Alcudia Gamas by his license plate and DPC. During the arrest, an ICE agent asked

15 Alcudia Gamas if he was related to Lorenzo Alcudia Gamas. Alcudia Gamas replied that they were

16 cousins.

17

65. The ICE agent also asked Alcudia Gamas ifhe knew Migrant Justice leader-member

18 "Kike," referring to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez by his nickname. When Alcudia Gamas replied that

19 he did, the ICE agent stated that Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez was "next." Alcudia Gamas took this to

20 mean that Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez would be the next Migrant Justice leader to be arrested and

21 detained.

22

66. Under the section titled "Recommendation/Disposition" on Alcudia Gamas's Form 1-

23 213, an ICE officer noted that a "representative of the advocacy group Migrant Justice" called the

24 ICE ERO office on September 22, 2016.

25

67. On September 22, 2016, Migrant Justice organized a protest at the ICE facility at St.

26 Albans, Vermont in response to Alcudia Gamas's arrest. Migrant Justice also secured a letter from

27 Senator Sanders to support Alcudia Gamas's release from detention on bond. Internal ICE

28

12

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 13 of 42

1 documents reflect that ICE employees expended significant effort responding to Congressional and

2 media inquiries generated by Migrant Justice's advocacy efforts.

3

4. ICE Targets Additional Migrant Justice Members.

4

68. On February 2, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Arturo Ruiz Rodriguez

5 outside of his home. Ruiz Rodriguez has no criminal record and did not qualify as a DHS

6 enforcement priority under prevailing enforcement guidelines.

7

69. During the arrest, Ruiz Rodriguez informed ICE that his minor son, a seven-year-old

8 U.S. citizen, was inside. Ruiz Rodriguez asked ICE if he could make arrangements for child care

9 while he was detained. An ICE agent refused this request and added that if Ruiz Rodriguez entered

IO his home, ICE would arrest and detain his seven-year-old son as well.

11

70. The ICE agent falsely informed Ruiz Rodriguez that he had received his name and

12 address from Migrant Justice leader Will Lambek.

13

71. On March 15, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Cesar Alexis Carrillo

14 Sanchez. Carrillo Sanchez's I-213 notes that ICE relied for the arrest upon information obtained

15 from his "Vermont DMV license application."

16

5. ICE Enlists an Informant to Surveil and Target Plaintiffs Zolly Palacios

Rodriguez and Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez. 17

72. By February and March 2017, ICE had already begun a full-scale campaign to

18

infiltrate and debilitate Migrant Justice, employing means far exceeding legitimate immigration

19

enforcement practice.

20

73. ICE enlisted at least one civilian informant to infiltrate Migrant Justice, which it used

21

to effect the arrests of two prominent Migrant Justice member-leaders, Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez

22

and Balcazar Sanchez, just days after the arrest of Migrant Justice member Carrillo Sanchez.

23

74. Neither Plaintiff Palacio Rodriguez nor Balcazar Sanchez have criminal records, nor

24

did they qualify as DHS enforcement priorities. Internal documents confirm that ICE was aware it

25

had no apparent legitimate law enforcement reason to arrest and detain Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriguez 26

and Balcazar Sanchez.

27

75. According to text messages sent between ICE Agent John Trantum and the informant,

28

ICE used the informant to obtain private information to arrest, detain, and retaliate against Plaintiffs

13

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 14 of 42

1 and their colleagues because of their activism. Messages sent between the informant and her trusted

2 acquaintance, Jane Doe, 1 also a civilian, confirm this relationship. According to the informant,

3 "anytime [Agent Trantum] makes an arrest he asks me [for information about the subject.]"

4

76. Jane Doe told Migrant Justice leaders that ICE knew that to "strike a blow" against

5 Migrant Justice they needed to target Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez because he was "very outspoken."

6

77. The informant's text messages reveal that she further ingratiated herself with the

7 organization in order to establish membership and gain access to non-public meetings and private

8 conversations. For instance, the informant attended a number of Migrant Justice events, including

9 but not limited to a February 25, 2017 Farmworker Assembly that was not open to the public. The

10 informant's presence intruded upon Plaintiffs' privacy.

11

78. On March 1, 2017, ICE Agent Trantum asked the civilian informant to target a

12 specific Migrant Justice member. The informant sent Jane Doe a photograph of at least seven

13 individuals wearing Migrant Justice T-shirts and asked her, "Hey you know this guy at all?" Internal

14 ICE emails also confirm that ICE surveilled targets based on photographs of individuals "wearing [ ]

15 Migrant Justice Tee-shirt[s] [sic]."

16

79. In another message on March 4, 2017, the informant discussed with Jane Doe ICE's

17 plan to apprehend Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez. The informant confided in Jane Doe that ICE had

18 been surveilling Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's house for many weeks and had even seen Migrant

19 Justice leader Marita Canedo's car at her residence.

20

80. According to Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's Form 1-213 documenting her arrest, an

21 ICE officer-for no stated reason-ran a search for her biographical information in October 2016.

22 According to a separate internal memorandum, the investigating ICE officer noted that he was

23 conducting a Facebook search. The Form 1-213 states that ICE received information "from a

24 concerned citizen," whom Plaintiffs believe to be the informant.

25

26

27

28
1 "Jane Doe" is used to protect confidentiality.

14

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 15 of 42

81. Internal ICE emails between Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI") Burlington

2 and Enforcement and Removal Operations ("ERO") Boston reflect that Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez

3 was a target of a planned arrest in March 2017.

4

82. Although Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez was the ostensible target, ICE's surveillance led

5 ICE agents to believe they could arrest Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, too. On March 13, 2017, ICE

6 drafted a "Field Operations Worksheet" regarding Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez. Under an entry for

7 "Spouse/Children," the operations worksheet states that Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's "Boyfriend Is

8 Enrique Balcazar." Internal ICE documents note that "BALCAZAR will most likely be with

9 [Palacios] at the time of arrest as they are together most of the time."

10

83. On March 8, 2017, a DHS/ICE Deportation Officer emailed the DMV to request

11 Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's license plate information. A DMV employee complied the next day.

12

84. On March 13, 2017, in response to a request for an "Agency Assist," a DMV official

13 transmitted Balcazar Sanchez's application for a Driver Privilege Card to ICE Agent Goff. In the

14 margins of the application, a DMV official handwrote the words "UNDOCUMENTED" and

15 "PRIVILEGE CARD." Balcazar Sanchez's 1-213 states that ICE obtained a number of documents

16 from the DMV: in addition to the standard DMV document requested, the DMV sent a "biographic

17 page" and copies of identity documents. An internal DHS and ICE "Field Operations Worksheet"

18 reflects that the DMV also sent Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's license plate number and car model.

19

85. On March 17, 2017, at about 1:15 a.m., Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez received a

20 notification from Microsoft that an unauthorized individual had attempted to gain access to her email

21 account. Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez was not aware of her account previously being hacked and this

22 was the first time that she received this type of notification.

23

86. Later that day, after driving from a meeting at Migrant Justice with Plaintiff Palacios

24 Rodriguez in the front passenger seat, Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez observed a white car following

25 them from the meeting. According to an internal document, the arresting ICE officer recognized him

26 from Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's arrest, and was able to identify him even though he was driving directly

27 behind him.

28

15

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 16 of 42

1

87. Three unmarked cars boxed in Plaintiffs Palacios Rodriquez and Balcazar Sanchez in

2 a very busy intersection of Route 7 and Flynn Avenue. Plainclothes officers exited their vehicles, did

3 not identify themselves, and ordered Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez to put the car in park, put his hands

4 on the wheel, and get out of the car. Agent Goff, with his hand on his gun, seized Plaintiff Palacios

5 Rodriguez's phone from out of her hand, unbuckled her seatbelt, and physically removed her from

6 the vehicle. The officers screamed at Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, humiliated him, and caused a

7 demeaning public spectacle. Bystanders, including children, observed the spectacle, and several

8 individuals inquired about the nature of the arrest.

9

88. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez asked the officers to identify themselves, why they were

10 detaining them, and if they had an arrest warrant. The officers did not respond. Though ICE officers

11 handcuffed him by the wrists and later by the ankles, ICE never told Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez that

12 he was under arrest, or why.

13

89. Agent Goff referred to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez repeatedly by his nickname, "Kike,"

14 and other ICE agents referred to Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez as "Vicki," a nickname for her middle

15 name that she uses on Facebook.

16

90. ICE agents made repeated references to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's and Plaintiff

17 Palacios Rodriguez's affiliation with Migrant Justice. ICE explicitly forbade Plaintiff Balcazar

18 Sanchez from contacting Migrant Justice during his processing and detention. ICE agents threatened

19 him that if he did call Migrant Justice, "it will be worse for you."

20

91. Agent Goff forbade Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez from calling Migrant Justice leaders

21 Will Lambek or Brendan O'Neill (referring to them by name) and forbade her from disclosing her

22 location.

23

92. Later, when Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez arrived at a detention facility in Swanton,

24 Vermont, Jeff Curtis, ICE Supervising Deportation and Detention Officer, told the facility that he had

25 brought them "a famous person," in reference to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's activism.

26

93. An ICE officer also attempted to coax Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez into signing an

27 order of voluntary departure by threatening falsely that she would be detained for two months without

28 bond.

16

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 17 of 42

94. ICE considered Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez and Palacios Rodriguez "high-profile

2 cases." On March 21, 2017, four days after Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's and Palacios Rodriguez's

3 arrests, in response to a newspaper article about Migrant Justice, an ICE employee asked Timothy

4 Robbins, Deputy Assistant Director of ICE/ERO, Daniel Ragsdale, then ICE Deputy Director, and

5 Defendant Matthew Albence, Executive Associate Director of ICE/ERO, for "executive summaries"

6 on Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez, Migrant Justice member Alex Carrillo, and Migrant Justice leader Will

7 Lambek.

8

95. ICE had no basis to target Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez or Palacios Rodriguez to protect

9 public safety or comply with ICE's stated priorities. An internal email thread on March 30, 2017,

10 reflects ICE's desired priority to "push forward on subjects with a criminal/public safety nexus."

11 Neither Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez nor Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez had criminal records, as reflected

12 in both of their Form I-213s. A separate OHS document lists Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez's "risk to

13 public safety" as "low."

14

96. Just a few weeks prior to Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's arrest, Vermont Attorney

15 General T.J. Donovan had appointed him to his Immigration Task Force.

16

97. In late March and April 2017, in response to the arrests of Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez

17 and Palacios Rodriguez, Migrant Justice organized protests to advocate for their release. Dozens

18 picketed around the St. Albans ICE office; hundreds of allies gathered in downtown Burlington,

19 Montpelier, and Brattleboro; and a petition to release the individuals gathered thousands of

20 signatures.

21

98. The protests generated significant media coverage. Vermont United States Senators

22 Leahy and Sanders, Congressman Welch, and Vermont Senator Pro Tempore Tim Ashe voiced their

23 concern about ICE tactics and policies.

24

99. On March 27, 2017, the date of Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez and Palacios Rodriguez's

25 bond hearing, Migrant Justice members organized a protest attended by hundreds of individuals

26 outside of the Boston Immigration Court.

27

28

17

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 18 of 42

1

100. Internal ICE documents reflect that ICE knew of the locations and times of the

2 protests before they occurred. ICE employees shared with one another a number of Migrant Justice

3 Facebook photos publicizing the event.

4

101. Senator Sanders had also submitted letters to the Immigration Court with 10,000

5 signatures of support, noting that it was "unclear why these two individuals would possibly be

6 considered enforcement priorities[.]"

7

6. ICE Continues to Hold and Prosecute Two Migrant Justice Members

After Learning About Their Affiliation with Migrant Justice. 8

102. On June 17, 2017, Customs and Border Protection ("CBP") pulled over and arrested

9

Migrant Justice members Esau Peche Ventura and Yesenia Hernandez Ramos. The arrest occurred

10

on the same day that Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos had marched thirteen miles to show their

11

support for the rights of workers in Migrant Justice's march from Montpelier to the Ben & Jerry's

12

factory in Waterbury, Vermont, in support of the campaign for the Milk with Dignity Program.

13

103. CBP agents pulled over Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos's vehicle without

14

explicit or evident cause. CBP arrested Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos and searched their

15

vehicle. CBP transferred Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos to ICE custody. ICE held them for

16

several days.

17

104. By the morning of June 19, 2017, internal ICE documents reveal that ICE understood

18

that it lacked sufficient cause to continue detaining Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos, stating in 19

an internal email, "I have asked [redacted] to reach out to BP to see if there is anything they can do to

20

give us legally sufficient cases so we can move forward." Even though ICE knew that it lacked a

21

legally sufficient reason to continue to hold them, lCE did not release them but instead requested the

22

DMV records of Peche Ventura and CBP visited their place of employment in search of evidence to 23

support their continued detention.

24

105. Over the course of the day on June 19, 2017, the OMV provided ICE with Peche 25

Ventura's DPC application along with identifying vehicular information.

26

106. Also on June 19, 2017, a delegation of Migrant Justice members and allies protested at 27

the ICE office in St. Albans, Vermont. Migrant Justice members demanded that ICE explain why it
28

had arrested individuals with no criminal records.

18

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 19 of 42

107. During the protest, ICE agents recognized and identified several members by name.

2 One ICE agent specifically pointed to and threatened some of the Individual Plaintiffs with detention.

3 The agent called out Plaintiffs by name-"Kike [Balcazar], Zully [Palacios], [and] Victor

4 [Garcia],"-and stated "you are putting your bond at risk." This statement was intended to chill

5 Plaintiffs' speech.

6

108. ICE officers also accessed Migrant Justice social media pages to track and monitor

7 advocacy campaigns on Peche Ventura's and Hernandez Ramos's behalf. ICE identified Migrant

8 Justice's protest in St. Albans as an "ICE Significant Incident."

9

7. ICE Targets Another Migrant Justice Member, Making Explicit Note of

His Affiliation with Migrant Justice as well as Migrant Justice's Activities 10

109. On October 23, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice leader and long-time member Jose

11

Cruz Balcazar Ventura in Addison County, Vermont.

12

110. Although ICE did not arrest Balcazar Ventura until October 2017 and claimed that he

13

came to their attention after a state criminal charge in the Fall of 2017, ICE had been targeting 14

Balcazar Ventura and knew of his involvement with Migrant Justice for more than 17 months. For

15

example, on May 20, 2016, an ICE deportation officer circulated a Federal Interest Memo for

16

Balcazar Ventura seeking approval to target him for arrest. In that same email, the deportation 17

officer directs, "Please let [redacted] know that, if approved, we will proceed as we did before,

18

following all policies and procedures to the letter. We will also stay away from any 'cultural events'

19

this time," a clear reference to Plaintiff Garcia Diaz's arrest at a Mexican cultural event on April 21, 20

2016.

21

111. ICE continued to reference Balcazar Ventura's affiliation with Migrant Justice in its 22

subsequent tracking and enforcement activities against him. On July 19, 2016, acknowledging that 23

Balcazar Ventura had no known criminal history and that the date and manner of his entry to the U.S. 24

was "[u]nknown," ICE decided nonetheless to deem him a 2(c) enforcement priority as a "recent

25

26

27

28

19

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 20 of 42

1 entrant."2 On an email exchange dated August 23, 2017, an ICE agent, in referencing his

2 apprehension, noted that "BALCAZAR-Ventura ... is associated with Migrant Justice."

3

8. ICE Selectively Revealed that It Was Surveilling Migrant Justice in Order

to Intimidate and Chill Its Activities. 4

112. In addition to the arrests, ICE selectively revealed information that it was surveilling 5

Migrant Justice in order to intimidate and chill Plaintiffs' protected activities. 6

113. For example, Migrant Justice assemblies are not open to the general public. The 7

organization shares the locations, dates, and times of its meetings only with members and known 8

supporters. However, in February 2017, a Migrant Justice supporter and community leader called the 9

ICE St. Albans office to ask questions about ICE's policies and practices relating to the detention of 10

children. Instead of answering her questions, the ICE Supervising Deportation and Detention Officer 11

asked the Migrant Justice ally whether she was asking the questions in preparation for the Migrant 12

Justice meeting, which he referenced by date and stated the exact location of the assembly-neither 13

of which had been made public.

14

114. ICE arrests of Migrant Justice members continue, and ICE's surveillance of Migrant 15

Justice also likely continues.

16

115. As recently as October 25, 2018, CBP arrested Migrant Justice member Eli Calvo 17

Cruz. ICE then ordered Calvo Cruz detained on a $14,000 bond, even though an immigration judge 18

in an earlier proceeding had set Calvo Cruz's bond at $4,500 and had administratively closed his 19

immigration case.

20

116. Migrant Justice organized a public campaign in support of Calvo Cruz's bond hearing, 21

collecting nearly 1,300 signatures and writing letters of support. On November 9, 2018, an 22

immigration judge released Calvo Cruz on $1,500 bond. 23

24

25 2 Priority 2(c) comes from the Priorities Memo released by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson on Nov. 20,

2014. See Memorandum from Secretary of DHS Jeh Johnson, Policies for the Apprehension,

26

Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants (Nov. 24, 2014), available at

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_ 1120_memo_prosecutorial_discretion.pdf

27

. Priority 2(c) refers to: "aliens apprehended anywhere in the United States after unlawfully

entering or re-entering the United States and who cannot establish to the satisfaction of an

28

immigration officer that they have been physically present in the United States continuously since

January 1, 2014."

20

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 21 of 42

1

9. Defendants Have Significantly Chilled the Speech of Plaintiffs, Caused

Lasting Harm, and Forced Migrant Justice to Divert Resources.

2

117. Migrant Justice's members-Plaintiff and non-Plaintiff members alike-have an

3 immediate fear of reprisal and share a ubiquitous sentiment of being watched. Migrant Justice is

4 concerned that, as certain private meetings have been surveilled, public protests and marches in the

5 future will be as well. Migrant Justice has had to modify and limit certain programming. Migrant

6 Justice has forgone certain opportunities to advocate on behalf of its members and to advocate for

7 economic and workplace rights. Defendants' conduct has hampered Migrant Justice's ability to reach

8 a broad and vulnerable audience and has caused a significant chill of free speech.

9 118. Defendants' unlawful conduct has taken a significant toll on Migrant Justice and its

10 membership. The effects of Defendants' conduct manifest in four primary ways: (1) Plaintiffs and

11 other non-Plaintiff members are fearful of further retaliation and now proceed more cautiously,

12 including forgoing certain speaking opportunities for fear ofreprisal; (2) as a result, Migrant Justice

13 is less effective, and is able to draw fewer attendees, less support, and lower enthusiasm; (3) Migrant

14 Justice has been forced to shift its efforts from advocacy focused on advancing workplace rights to

15 advocacy focused on defending against retaliatory immigration enforcement; and (4) Defendants

16 have forced Migrant Justice to outlay significant time, resources, and finances as a result.

17 119. Defendants' unlawful conduct continues to exert a substantial chilling effect upon the

18 organization and its members and continues to undermine Migrant Justice's advocacy. Given ICE's

19 extensive surveillance and infiltration, Plaintiffs expect ongoing harassment and targeting of their

20 First Amendment activities. As a result, Migrant Justice has had to take extensive and costly

21 precautions, limiting its overall reach to the community. For example, when the organization hosts

22
meetings, it must implement a watch system around the state to prevent ICE from following and

23 surveilling members' vehicles.

24 120. Migrant Justice leader Marita Canedo has limited her interaction with other members

25 since she learned that ICE was surveilling her car, discussed hifra Jr 130: she no longer provides

26
members transportation, which significantly hinders her ability to connect with workers; she fears

27 that ICE will target any member with whom she associates and avoids major roads when driving.

28

21

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 22 of 42

1

121. Migrant Justice believes that the informant is still infiltrating its membership to this

2 very day. In the weeks before this complaint was filed, the informant attended a Migrant Justice

3 event and began recording video while she was there, despite explicit requests to attendees not to

4 record video or post to social media. Moreover, internal documents from the DMV and ICE indicate

5 that the DMV is still sending ICE sensitive information to facilitate ICE's enforcement of civil

6 immigration law.

7

122. Each Plaintiff expresses concern and fear of further retaliation, including surveillance,

8 harassment, and summary arrest and detention. Each Plaintiff asserts that though he or she remains a

9 member of Migrant Justice and continues to engage in political speech, he or she proceeds more

10 anxiously and fearfully than before Defendants' unlawful conduct and that his or her speech has been

11 chilled.

12

123. This too is true of many non-Plaintiff Migrant Justice members. Additionally, many

13 migrant workers express hesitation to join Migrant Justice-initiated protests, rallies, or marches

14 because they fear they will be detained for organizing and associating with the organization.

15

124. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

16 Plaintiff Garcia Diaz suffers from significant anxiety, sadness, and difficulty concentrating. He

17 believes that Defendants continue to track his movements and surveil him during meetings, protests,

18 and community events. He worries every time he participates in Migrant Justice activities. His

19 speech and associational rights have been chilled.

20

125. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

21 Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez suffers from significant anxiety, difficulty sleeping and concentrating, and

22 a sense of dread and paranoia that causes him to alert his friends and family as to his whereabouts at

23 all times because of fear. He believes that Defendants continue to track his movements and surveil

24 him during meetings, protests, and community events. He also believes ICE is monitoring his social

25 media profiles. His speech and associational rights have been chilled.

26

126. As a result of Defendants' unlawful surveillance, harassment, arrest, and detention,

27 Plaintiff Palacios Rodriguez lives in a constant state of fear that ICE will arrest her and send her to

28 jail at any moment. She suffers from significant anxiety, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, nightmares,

22

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 23 of 42

1 and a sense of despair and sadness that causes her to burst into tears without provocation. She

2 believes that Defendants continue to track her movements and surveil her during meetings, protests,

3 and community events. She also believes Defendants may be monitoring her private electronic

4 communications, as well as her social media profiles. Her speech and associational rights have been

5 chilled.

6

127. By decreasing willingness of Vermont residents to risk association with the

7 organization's viewpoints and advocacy efforts, Migrant Justice's ability to effectuate its labor

8 organizing efforts has been diminished.

9

128. Defendants' conduct has significantly deterred members' participation and attendance

10 at Migrant Justice events. On average, assembly participation has dropped by approximately one-

11 half. Members have reported fearing retaliation by Defendants and citing the ongoing ICE actions

12 against Plaintiffs specifically.

13

129. The closer in time to a recent arrest or detention an assembly or event was planned, the

14 lower the attendance. For example, only ten Migrant Justice members attended the March 23, 2017,

15 assembly in Morrisville, Vermont, held six days after Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez's and Palacios

16 Rodriguez's arrests, although approximately twenty-five had originally stated they intended to

17 participate. At least seven Migrant Justice members called to cancel their attendance at the assembly

18 in the days following the arrests. Additional members expected to participate did not attend, and

19 many community organizers and advocates were notably absent. Likewise, Defendants' conduct

20 hampered Migrant Justice's ability to recruit new employees and gamer community support.

21

130. Migrant Justice's Women's Group met monthly in 2015 and 2016, but stopped

22 meeting for two years due to members' fears about ICE and law enforcement activity, specifically the

23 arrests of Plaintiff Garcia Diaz and other members. Migrant Justice members widely understood that

24 ICE was surveilling Women's Group leader Marita Canedo, which referenced her "red car" on a

25 number of occasions, a fact confirmed by the informant.

26

131. Defendants' conduct has caused a number of Vermont-based farm owners to

27 discourage their employees from participating in Migrant Justice activities for fear that their workers

28 would be detained. Further, fearing that advocacy would draw unwarranted attention from federal

23

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 24 of 42

1 authorities and many of their employees would be arrested, many farm owners are reluctant to

2 participate in the Milk with Dignity Program. This reluctance has protracted negotiations with

3 companies such as Ben & Jerry's and continues to hinder the operation of the program and its

4 expansion to cover more farmworkers.

5

132. As a result of Defendants' speech suppression, Migrant Justice has had to divert away

6 from priorities such as Milk with Dignity and redirect them towards combatting unconstitutional

7 immigration practices. ICE's activities have forced Migrant Justice to devote significant time and

8 resources to activities such as advocating for bond reductions for its indigent members and taking

9 other measures to mitigate the harmful impact of the chilling of individual members' willingness to

10 continue to associate with the organization.

11

133. Migrant Justice has had to divert a significant portion of their time to immigration-

12 defense related work, specifically combatting the DMV's discriminatory treatment against

13 immigrants, addressing ICE-based retaliatory arrests and surveillance practices, creating national

14 organizing and advocacy campaigns for their aggrieved members, and countless others. A significant

15 portion of staff time has been diverted away from labor-based advocacy to immigration-related work

16 due to Defendants' conduct.

17

134. Members have also been forced to spend significant time training and protecting

18 members and leaders from ICE targeting and retaliation. These measures include preventative

19 measures, ranging from drafting, developing, and implementing emergency plans, to know-your-

20 rights trainings, among others.

21

135. In addition, Defendants' unlawful retaliation and suppression of free speech has

22 caused Migrant Justice financial losses. Migrant Justice regularly serves as obligor for its members'

23 bond payments while they are in immigration detention. For instance, Migrant Justice advanced

24 funds to post bond of $6,000.00 each for members Peche Ventura and Hernandez Ramos. Migrant

25 Justice also posts funds into detained members' commissary funds to allow them to purchase

26 sufficient food while detained and provide transportation for detained individuals once released.

27

136. The costs attendant to combating and mitigating Defendants' unconstitutional conduct

28 extend beyond bond payments. As the immigration judge overseeing Plaintiffs Balcazar Sanchez's

24

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 25 of 42

1 and Palacios Rodriguez's cases observed, advocacy in support of detained members was a strong

2 factor supporting their release. Thus, to allow its members the opportunity to post bail, Migrant

3 Justice has to organize rallies, protests, and marches in support of its detained members. Costs

4 associated with these efforts include-but are not limited tc:r-significant staff time, printing costs,

5 and travel to and from protests which often are located outside of the Boston Immigration Court,

6 including costs associated with rental cars, charter buses, gas, and mileage reimbursement.

7

137. As a result of Defendants' unlawful conduct, Migrant Justice has been forced to

8 expend significant financial resources, affecting the organization's operating budget, impairing its

9 ability to function effectively, and creating tangible and articulable damages.

IO

10. ICE Targets Activists Around the Country for Speaking Out.

11

138. ICE's efforts to undermine Migrant Justice are part of a pattern of ICE expending

12 significant resources to target, surveil, arrest, and detain immigrant activists and leaders across the

13 country in response to their protected political speech and activity.

14

139. Since 2016, ICE has taken enforcement against no fewer than twenty high-profile

15 immigrant activist leaders for their political activism and public speech, including the following

16 individuals:

17

18

• On March 2, 2017, ICE arrested Daniela Vargas of Mississippi, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals ("DACA") recipient, after she spoke publicly about ICE

19

raiding her family's home and arresting her brother and father.

20

• On May 18, 2017, CBP arrested Claudia Rueda of California, an immigrant rights

activist and college student, after she spoke out publicly about her mother's arrest. 21

22

• In November 27, 2017, ICE arrested Baltazar Aburto Gutierrez of Washington

after he spoke to a local journalist. During the arrest, an ICE agent told him "you

23

are the one from the newspaper."

24

• On December 20, 2017, ICE issued a Notice to Appear to and initiated an

enforcement action against Mam Mora Villalpando of Washington, a longtime

25

activist and founder of the Northwest Detention Center Resistance.

26

• On January 3, 2018, ICE arrested Jean Montrevil of New York, a longstanding

27

activist with the New Sanctuary Coalition. He was deported less than two weeks

later, on January 16, 2018.

28

25

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 26 of 42

1

• On January 11, 2018, ICE arrested Ravi Ragbir of New York, a longstanding

activist with and Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition. Ragbir has

2

since won a stay of removal from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals while his

3

case is appealed.

4

• On January 11, 2018, ICE arrested Eliseo Jurado of Colorado, the husband of

Ingrid Encalada Latorre, a leader in Colorado's sanctuary movement who gained

5

media attention after she sought sanctuary from detention in a local church.

6

• On March 7, 2018, ICE arrested Alejandra Pablos of Virginia, a permanent

7

resident, after she helped lead a protest in Virginia outside of a DHS office.

Pablos is a longstanding immigrant activist and field coordinator for the National

8

Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.

9

• In early April 2018, ICE detained Manuel Duran, a Memphis, Tennessee-based

journalist at the Memphis Noticias newspaper, who has a long history of

10

publicizing reports critical of federal immigration practices.

11 • On July 24, 2018, in Racine Wisconsin, ICE arrested community leader Ricardo

12

Fierro, the Council President of the local League of United Latin American

Citizens ("LULAC"). 13

14

• In October 2018, ICE detained Eduardo Samaniego of Massachusetts, an immigrant rights leader and activist, who regularly spoke out against state laws

15

that bar undocumented immigrants from attending higher education. Samaniego

was denied bond and upon accepting a voluntary departure on January 29, 2018,

16

must leave the U.S. within 30 days.

17

140. On January 26, 2018, thirty-one members of Congress sent a letter to ICE and DHS

18 expressing concern about the agencies' targeting of activists, which they explained "may create a

19 broader chilling effect within the community, dissuading some immigrants from invoking their legal

20 rights for fear that doing so will result in retaliation by ICE." On March 22, 2018, four members of

21 Congress sent a letter to ICE expressing concern about retaliation against activists, stating that "the

22 use of law enforcement resources to retaliate against critics and political opponents of the President is

23 contrary to our most basic democratic norms."

24

141. These arrests reflect an even broader expressed antipathy toward individuals, entities,

25 and states who choose to challenge the administration's aggressive and intentionally intimidating

26 enforcement practices. Retaliatory arrests actively continue around the United States.

27

C. The DMV Has a Policy, Pattern, or Practice of Sharing Information with ICE,

Motivated by Animus Against Latinos and Other Non-White People. 28

26

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 27 of 42

I

142. DMV has had a long-standing policy, pattern, and practice of permitting its staff to

2 routinely and regularly share information with ICE and Border Patrol and to actively seek to facilitate

3 the immigration enforcement activities of those two agencies.
4 143. This information-sharing has included passing along information about individuals
5
6 that DMV staff believed to be in the country unlawfully and responding to informal ICE requests for

7 information about individuals, such as their Driver's Privilege Card application and supporting

8 documentation or vehicle registration. The DMV and ICE worked so closely together that in one

9 October 2014 email, ICE Agent Goff emailed DMV Detective Jonathan Purdy thanking him for
IO information and commenting, "We're going to have to make you an honorary ICE officer!"
11 144. Beyond providing information, DMV also cooperated by scheduling appointments and
12 driver's tests around ICE's availability, requiring drivers to come to the DMV office unnecessarily,
13
14 or imposing criminal charges for the purpose of exposing an individual to greater risk of immigration
15 enforcement.

16

145. Many of these forms of cooperation were instrumental in the arrests and detention of

17 the individual Plaintiffs.
18 146. DMV staff specifically targeted Latinos for these practices: DPC applicants and
19 holders with Latino surnames were far more likely to have their information shared with ICE than
20 those with non-Latino surnames, despite there being more than four times as many DPC holders and
21
22 applicants than there are Latinos in Vermont.

23

147. The policy, pattern, and practice exhibited by DMV staff and permitted by the DMV

24 represented a long-standing and deep-seated animus toward Latinos and non-white individuals, and

25 are therefore perceived by DMV staff as "foreign," due to their physical appearance, surname, or 26
accent. 27

28

27

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 28 of 42

1

148. For example, DMV employees frequently highlighted the race of individuals whom

2 they intended to investigate or referred to them as "immigrants" and "illegals." For instance, in a
3 December 2, 2014 email to a supervisor, DMV Investigator Jonathan Purdy recounted how he
4 noticed people who "appeared (illegal)" and "three people loitering outside (who appeared Mexican)"
5
at the OMV and called ICE agents' attention to these individuals to investigate. In the same email, a 6

7 DMV Investigator gratuitously noted that another DMV employee told him "she had a Mexican at

8 her window who wanted to schedule a permit test."

9

149. In another example, a DMV communication made light of the discrimination: in a

10 November 7, 2014 email, a DMV employee sarcastically remarked to a DMV Investigator: "I don't

11 want to discriminate, I don't dare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (fifty-three
12
exclamation points in original). 13

14

150. That DMV knew of and permitted the discriminatory conduct is without question.

15 DMV employees' disproportionate focus on race and perceived ethnicity was evident across a broad

16 swath of communications received or viewed by supervisors. As early as October 2014, one DMV

17 officer included ICE contact regarding "another possible illegal" in a "Weekly Report" he wrote as a
18 member of the DMV Investigation Division.
19 151. DMV supervisors also frequently received direct emails evidencing the animus and
20 discriminatory intent. For example, on October 30, 2014, and many times thereafter, DMV Officer
21
22 Purdy emailed DMV Supervisor McIntyre-a DMV supervisor-about forwarding information to

23 ICE officers. He emailed her again on November 7, 2014 to express frustration with the DPC

24 program and to inform her that he forwarded "a rather large list to ICE," writing that he understood
25 the purpose of the DPC program was to "accommodate illegal farm workers," but that "it doesn't 26
appear to me these are farm workers!" In that same email, Purdy asked McIntyre why the state is 27

28

28

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 29 of 42

1 "turning a blind eye toward illegals." And McIntyre received Purdy's email referring to people at the

2 OMV who "appeared illegal" and "appeared Mexican."
3 152. Additional emails from this time period demonstrate DMV's association of ethnicity
4 and race with immigration status, and fixation on the perceived immigration status of DPC
5 applicants. For example, on December 4, 2014, a OMV employee wrote to a colleague in response to
6
7 an exchange about compiling a list of addresses and residents, "Holy crap is right, we are being over

8 run [sic] by immigrants." Another OMV employee noted that mail from one of the investigated

9 addresses was "all [addressed to] 'South of the Border' names."

10

153. OMV staff would also regularly and routinely open investigations-including

11 contacting ICE-for no apparent reason other than the fact that the applicant presented a document
12 from a Latin American country as identification or otherwise appeared "foreign" because they were
13

14 non-white. In one case in July 2016, a OMV employee admitted that "We don't have a violation of

15 the DPC law," but sent the driver's information to ICE anyway. In another instance, in February

16 2016, a OMV employee sent a name to an ICE Agent and asked ICE "to check the guy for federal

17 warrants, deportation orders, etc.," despite there being no appearance of a violation. When ICE
18 responded that the applicant had lawful immigration status, the OMV employee then facilitated
19 checking the applicant's brother.
20 154. On September 23, 2016, a OMV investigator emailed to his supervisors a list of his
21
22 investigations broken down by race. The suspects of his investigations were disproportionately

23 Latino. Of 11 "Total Persons Encountered" between April 1 and September 23, 2016, the list notes

24 "IO Hispanic, I Caucasian," and a similar ratio of "8 Hispanic, l Caucasian" for investigations that
25 resulted in "Suspend/Cancel," meaning the DPCs issued to the persons investigated were either
26 suspended or their issuance canceled. That breakdown, though anecdotal, stands in sharp contrast to
27 the breakdown of Vermont's population. Only about 10,900 Vermonters identify as "Hispanic or
28

29

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 30 of 42

1 Latino (of any race)," while 585,154 people-93.4% of the total Vermont population-identify as

2 "White alone, not Hispanic or Latino."
3 155. DMV's conduct motivated by prejudice against non-white individuals particularly
4
Latinos, was so pervasive that, in an Investigative Report dated November 10, 2015, the Vermont 5
Human Rights Commission found reasonable cause to believe that DMV engaged in discriminatory
6
7 practices. These practices included falsifying information on an individual's DPC application by

8 checking a box for "proof of legal status" which the individual had left blank and then investigating

9 him for purportedly providing that false information. The DMV applied its investigatory and referral
10 policy-which the Report characterized as "vague"-in a discriminatory fashion. 11
156. The Human Rights Commission found that the DMV had worked to entrap the same 12
individual and facilitate his arrest into ICE custody. The report noted specifically that the DMV's 13 14 conduct-routing a DPC applicant into ICE custody because of their suspected immigration status-
15 was "at odds with the very intent of the [Driver Privilege Card] law," thereby engaging in "exactly

16 the thing that the DPC law was designed to prevent." (emphasis in original). The Commission

17 concluded that "no white citizen [Driver Privilege Card] applicants have ever been referred [to

18 immigration officials] for investigation," while many non-white individuals had been, and that the
19 DMV was "markedly hostile and objectively unreasonable" to the claimant "because of' [his] status
20
as a non-white [] person [of Middle Eastern ethnicity]." 21

22

157. On July 11, 2016, responding to the Human Rights Commission's investigations,

23 Nancy Prescott, DMV Branch Operations Manager, instructed DMV employees by email that they

24 "shouldn't be contacting homeland/ice at any point without being advised." [sic]

25

158. On August 25, 2016, the DMV entered a settlement agreement to resolve the

26 investigation concerning the pervasive anti-immigrant bias ("Settlement Agreement").

27

28

30

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 31 of 42

1

159. The Settlement Agreement, inter alia, sharply restricted the DMV's ability to transmit

2 a DPC applicant's information to ICE. For instance, Section 2 of the Settlement Agreement provides:
3 "That subject to the provisions of the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act, absent subpoena or a criminal
4
warrant, DPC information contained on Applications shall be confidential including but not limited to
5
information related to legal presence, or national origin." 6

7

160. The Drivers' Privacy Protection Act does not require the DMV to share confidential

8 information with ICE for immigration enforcement purposes.

9

161. The prohibition extends beyond immigration status to other aspects of the application,

10 such as the form itself and information accompanying the form, such as photos and vehicle
11 registration information. The settlement agreement also required DMV "to adopt the essential
12 elements of the Model Fair & Impartial Policing ('FIP') policy as adopted by the Vermont Criminal
13
14 Justice Training Council [] as well as all of the non-essential elements [not listed here]." The FIP

15 policy that OMV was required to adopt included the following provisions:

16

• "Federal law does not grant local and state agencies authority to enforce civil immigration

17

law. Similarly, state law does not grant local and state agencies authority to enforce

18 immigration laws. [The DMVJ shall not dedicate [DMVJ time or resources to the
19 enforcement offederal immigration law where the only violation of law is presence in the
20
United States without authorization or documentation." (emphasis added). 21

22

• Similarly, OMV officials "shall not facilitate the detention of undocumented individuals

23

or individuals suspected of being undocumented by federal immigration authorities for

24

suspected civil immigration violations."

25 162. In a memorandum dated January 31, 2017, Michael A. Smith, OMV Director of
26 Operations, relayed the terms of the settlement to all OMV staff statewide. The memo directed: "DO
27

28

31

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 32 of 42

1 NOT run [immigration status] checks on undocumented applicants," regardless of the documentation

2 submitted.

3 163. Yet, notwithstanding entering into the Settlement Agreement and issuing this
4 guidance, OMV staff still engage in a policy, pattern, and practice of anti-immigrant animus and
5
OMV leadership does not ensure that staff refrain from discriminatory conduct. 6

7

164. For example, staff continue to share information and otherwise cooperate with ICE-

8 even when such cooperation is contrary to agency policy. In April 2017, a DMV investigator told

9 Seven Days, a Vermont news publication, that the settlement and FIP policy "doesn't make any
10 difference" for his work. He also stated: "I'm not familiar with the settlement because, really, I don't
11 have any interest with the settlement."
12 165. Further, in 2017, OMV staff shared information with immigration enforcement
13
14 agencies about the following Individual Plaintiffs and Migrant Justice members:

15

• On March 9, 2017, a OMV employee sent the license plate information for Plaintiff

Balcazar Sanchez to an ICE Officer.

16

• On March 13, 2017, a OMV employee transmitted Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's OPC

17

application to an ICE Officer. In the margins of the application, a DMV employee had

18

written the words "UNDOCUMENTED" and "PRNILEGE CARD." The OMV also

provided other personally identifying documents. See supra, ,i 84.

19

• On March 15, 2017, ICE arrested Migrant Justice member Carrillo Sanchez. The 1-

20

213 that ICE wrote for Carrillo Sanchez notes that ICE determined his alienage

21

through his Vermont OMV OPC application, including a copy of his Mexican

passport and his Mexican birth certificate. The DMV would have transmitted this

22

information to ICE on or about March 2017. See supra, ,i 71.

23

• On June 19, 2017, a OMV employee provided information about Migrant Justice

member Peche Ventura's OPC application and vehicular information to ICE officials.

24

See supra, ,i 105.

25 166. Recent public records requests confirm that OMV staff continues a pattern and
26 practice of sharing information with ICE and Border Patrol motivated by a dislike of non-white
27 individuals, and Latinos in particular.
28

32

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 33 of 42

1

167. Records obtained via a public records request in 2018 show that DMV continued to

2 respond to ICE inquiries, voluntarily providing ICE with confidential information including photos,
3 car registration information, and copies of applications. The routine nature of these communications
4 suggests a regular, ongoing practice.
5
168. Furthermore, after the publication of emails between ICE and DMV in October 2016, 6

7 which painted the DMV in a critical light, DMV employees have chosen to limit their electronic mail

8 communications and have undertaken to communicate with ICE via telephone. For example, after the

9 Settlement Agreement, in a December 1, 2016 email, a DMV investigator forwarded his emails with
10 ICE in response to a public records request, noting that "[m]ost of my interactions [with ICE] have
11 been via phone."
12 169. This ongoing cooperation between the DMV, ICE, and CBP is enabled by DMV
13
14 supervisors who tum a blind eye to the discriminatory conduct of their staff. There are only four
15 Criminal Investigators in the DMV Investigations Unit, overseen by two Criminal Unit Supervisors

16 and a Chief Inspector. Given the pattern of information-sharing by DMV officers, as well as DMV

17 officers' documented animus against Latinos and other non-white individuals-in some instances
18 documented in emails to DMV supervisors-OMV supervisors know of or should know of the
19 ongoing constitutional violations.
20

21

COUNT ONE

22

VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

23

OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

(INTERFERENCE WITH FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION)

24

(All Plaintiffs against DHS Defendants)

25

26

170. The right to expressive association "is implicit in the right to engage in activities

27 protected by the First Amendment." Roberts v. Jaycees, 468 U.S. 609,622 (1984). To have a

28

33

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 34 of 42

1 protectable right of expressive association, "a group must engage in some form of expression,

2 whether it is public or private." Boy Scouts ofAmerica v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640, 648 (2000).

3

171. Plaintiffs have engaged and continue to engage in protected speech and conduct.

4 Individual Plaintiffs, through their membership in Migrant Justice, have engaged and continue to

5 engage in political activism and advocacy against discriminatory government practices. A key part of

6 their activism is meeting with other migrant workers to discuss and analyze shared problems and to

7 envision collective solutions. Plaintiff Migrant Justice continues its efforts to encourage greater

8 numbers of migrant workers in Vermont to join the organization and advocate for their rights.

9

172. By targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, and engaging in disinformation towards Migrant

10 Justice members, Defendants directly and substantially interfere with Individual Plaintiffs' ability to

11 associate with Migrant Justice and with Migrant Justice and its members' ability to join together.

12 Defendants have caused a significant chill oflndividual Plaintiffs' and Migrant Justice's members'

13 rights to associate. Defendants' comments that associate immigration enforcement with Migrant

14 Justice activity and their ongoing surveillance and infiltration, have instilled in Plaintiffs and other

15 members and potential members ongoing fear of reprisal that has limited Plaintiffs' ability to

16 associate freely.

17

173. Plaintiffs-Migrant Justice on its own behalf and on behalf of its membership, as well

18 as all Individual Plaintiffs-wish to continue engaging in their First Amendment-protected activities

19 to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future conduct,

20 are deterred from doing so.

21

174. Defendants' targeting, infiltration, disinformation campaign, and surveillance of

22 Migrant Justice serves no compelling governmental interest. Nor does it reflect the least restrictive

23 means of engaging in immigration enforcement activities.

24

175. Defendants' actions cause Plaintiffs significant harm, including chilling Plaintiffs'

25 speech, frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant resources,

26 as well as financial harm.

27

28

34

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 35 of 42

1

176. Individual Plaintiffs have reason to fear that ICE may take continued action that

2 infringes on their associational rights, for example by revoking their bond for participation in Migrant

3 Justice activities.

COUNT TWO

4

VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

5

OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

(FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND FREEDOM TO PETITION)

6

(All Plaintiffs against DHS Defendants)

7

177. "The rights to complain to public officials and to seek administrative and judicial

8 relief are protected by the First Amendment." Gagliardi v. Vil!. ofPawling, 18 F.3d. 188, 194 (2d

9 Cir. 1994). "[T]o petition for a redress of grievances is among the most precious of liberties
1o safeguarded by the Bill of Rights" and is "intimately connected ... with other First Amendment

11 rights of free speech and free press." Id. at 195 (internal alterations and quotation marks omitted).

12

178. Plaintiffs have engaged and continue to engage in protected speech and conduct.

13 Individual Plaintiffs, through their membership in Migrant Justice, Inc., have engaged and continue to

14 engage in protected speech including, but not limited to, Migrant Justice's continuous political

15 activism and advocacy to safeguard the right to freedom of movement and access to transportation, to

16 freedom from discrimination, and to improved living and working conditions. Plaintiffs' activism

17 has included petitioning elected officials to intervene and government agencies to provide relief

18 against discriminatory government practices.

19

179. Defendants are engaged in a campaign of targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, providing

20 disinformation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice and its members, including Individual

21 Plaintiffs, that goes beyond legitimate law enforcement and surveillance activities.

22

180. Defendants engagement in these activities undermines Migrant Justice's efforts and

23 abridges Migrant Justice and its members' ability to engage in protected speech and petition

24 activities.

25

181. Defendants actions inhibit reasonable migrant workers from fully exercising their

26 rights to engage in speech and to petition the government.

27

182. Defendants actions have significantly affected Plaintiffs' ability to advocate their

28 viewpoints and have caused a significant chill of Plaintiffs' rights to speak freely and petition the

35

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 36 of 42

1 government under the First Amendment. Defendants' targeting, surveillance, and harassment,

2 actions would not have occurred but for Plaintiffs' protected speech.

3

183. Plaintiffs-Migrant Justice on its own behalf and on behalf of its membership, as well

4 as all the Individual Plaintiffs-wish to continue engaging in their First Amendment-protected

5 activities to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future

6 conduct, are deterred from doing so.

7

184. Defendants cause Plaintiffs significant harm, including chilling Plaintiffs' speech,

8 frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant resources, as well

9 as financial harm. 10 11 12

COUNT THREE VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
(RETALIATION) (Migrant Justice against all DHS Defendants)

13

185. To prevail on a First Amendment retaliation claim, a plaintiff must show "(I) that the

14 speech or conduct at issue was protected, (2) that the defendant took adverse action against the

15 plaintiff, and (3) that there was a causal connection between the protected speech and the adverse

16 action." Gonzalez v. Hasty, 802 F.3d 212,222 (2d Cir. 2015) (quotation marks omitted).

17

186. Migrant Justice has engaged and continues to engage in protected speech and conduct.

18 Its members have engaged and continue to engage in political activism and advocacy against

19 discriminatory government practices.

20

187. By targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, and spreading disinformation to Migrant Justice

21 members, Defendants significantly affect the organization's ability to advocate its viewpoints and

22 hinder Migrant Justice's ability to advocate for economic protections for migrant farmworkers.

23

188. Defendants' prior retaliatory conduct, including but not limited to surveillance and

24 infiltration, have instilled in Migrant Justice's members an ongoing fear of reprisal that has limited

25 the ability of its members to speak and associate freely and has therefore chilled the organization's

26 speech as a whole. Migrant Justice's First Amendment-protected activity motivates Defendants'

27 targeting, surveillance, infiltration, and disinformation activities, which would not occur but for the

28 organization's protected speech.

36

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 37 of 42

1

189. Migrant Justice wishes to continue engaging in its First Amendment-protected

2 activities to the fullest extent possible, but, as a result of Defendants' past, present, and likely future

3 conduct, the organization has been deterred from being able to do so.

4

190. Defendants' actions cause Migrant Justice significant harm, including chilling

5 members' speech, frustrating Migrant Justice's mission, causing Migrant Justice to divert significant

6 resources, as well as financial harm.

7

COUNT FOUR

8

VIOLATION OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

9

(EQUAL PROTECTION)

(Plaintiff Migrant Justice, on behalf of its Members, against Defendant Minoli)

10

11

191. Plaintiffs bring this claim against Defendant Minoli in her official capacity under 42

12 U.S.C. § 1983 and Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908).

13

192. DMV employees consistently share personally identifying information about Plaintiffs

14 with ICE. This information-sharing disproportionately targets and impacts non-white and Latino
15
residents, and arises out of pervasive animus within the Vermont DMV against such individuals. 16

17

193. By sharing personally identifying information in this way and with this motivation,

18 Defendants deny Plaintiffs equal protection of the laws. U.S. Const., Amend. XIV,§ 1.

19

194. The DMV were motivated by animus against non-white and Latino individuals.

20

COUNT FIVE

21

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

(INVASION OF PRIVACY: INTRUSION ON SECLUSION)

22

(All Plaintiffs against Defendant United States)

23

195. Plaintiff Migrant Justice asserts this claim on behalf of its membership.

24

196. Plaintiffs adequately exhausted their administrative remedies as required under 28

25 U.S.C. § 2675 by filing federal tort claims against DHS on the basis of the incidents alleged. DHS

26 denied all claims by letters dated June 11, 2018.

27

197. By committing the above-described acts, including but not limited to enlisting an

28 informant to surveil Plaintiffs at non-public meetings and in private spaces, eavesdropping on private

37

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 38 of 42

1 conversations and engaging in physical surveillance and harassment, Defendants committed a

2 substantial and highly offensive interference within Plaintiffs' solitude.

3

198. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of duties, Plaintiffs have

4 suffered and continue to suffer damages.

5

199. Plaintiffs are entitled to damages against the United States for invasion of privacy to

6 the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be determined by the trier

7 of fact.

8

200. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

9 these actions.

COUNT SIX

10

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

11

(INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS)

(All Plaintiffs against Defendant United States)

12 201. Plaintiffs adequately exhausted their administrative remedies as required under 28

13 U.S.C. § 2675 by filing federal tort claims against DHS on the basis of the incidents alleged. DHS

14 denied all claims by letters dated June 11, 2018.

15 202. By committing the above-described acts, including but not limited to ongoing

16 surveillance and harassment, the knowledge obtained from which was used to intimidate Plaintiffs, as

17 well as arrests conducted in a public and unnecessarily aggressive manner, Defendants, engaging in

18 intentional extreme and outrageous conduct, caused Plaintiffs to suffer extreme emotional distress.

19 203. As a direct and proximate result of Defendant's breaches of duties, Plaintiffs have

20 suffered and continue to suffer damages.

21 204. Plaintiffs are entitled to damages against the United States for intentional infliction of

22 emotional distress to the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be

23 determined by the trier of fact.

24 205. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

25 these actions.

26

27

28

38

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 39 of 42

1

COUNT SEVEN

VIOLATION OF THE FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS ACT 28 U.S.C. § 2671

2

(FALSE IMPRISONMENT)

3

Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez against Defendant United States)

4

206. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez adequately exhausted his administrative remedies as

5 required under 28 U.S.C. § 2675 by filing a federal tort claim against DHS on the basis of his March

6 17, 2017 arrest. OHS denied Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez's claim on June 11, 2018.

7

207. Here, Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez shows that a person intentionally confined him

8 without the privilege to do so, and that person was conscious of the confinement.

9

208. By arresting and detaining Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez pursuant to a retaliatory official

10 policy related to his First Amendment-protected activity, Defendants confined him without the

11 privilege to do so. Regardless of whether there was probable cause for an arrest, law enforcement

12 officials lack the privilege to arrest an individual pursuant to a retaliatory policy. The confinement

13 caused Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez injury.

14

209. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants' breaches of duties, Plaintiff Balcazar

15 Sanchez has suffered and continues to suffer damages.

16

210. Plaintiff Balcazar Sanchez is entitled to damages against the United States for false

17 imprisonment to the full extent allowed under Vermont law and the FTCA, in an amount to be

18 determined by the trier of fact.

19

211. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, defendant United States of America is liable for

20 these actions.

21

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

22

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court:

23 A. Declare that OHS Defendants' actions violate Plaintiffs' First Amendment rights by (1)

24

infringing on their right to free association without a compelling governmental interest or

25

using narrowly tailored means; (2) unlawfully targeting, surveilling, infiltrating, spreading

26

disinformation, and harassing individuals to interfere with their ability to exercise their rights

27

to free speech and to petition the government; and (3) unlawfully targeting, surveilling,

28

infiltrating, spreading disinformation, and harassing individuals as retaliation for their prior

39

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 40 of 42

1
2
3 B.
4 5 6
7 8
9 10 11 12
13 C. 14 15 16 D. 17 18 19
20
21
22
23 24 E. 25
26 27 F. 28

exercise of the right to free speech and free association and the right to petition the government; Enjoin the DHS Defendants and any of their officers, agents, successors, employees, representatives and any and all persons acting in concert with them, prohibiting them from: I. Targeting, surveilling, infiltrating and spreading disinformation against Migrant Justice
and its members; 2. Surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinformation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice
members to inhibit the exercise of their rights to speech, association, and petition; 3. Surveilling, infiltrating, spreading disinformation, arresting, and detaining Migrant Justice
members in retaliation for their prior exercise of their rights to speech, association, and petition; 4. Using a confidential informant to complete any of the above; Declare that the DMV's actions violate Plaintiffs' Equal Protection rights by sharing information with ICE in a manner that is motivated by animus against Latinos and other nonwhite individuals; Grant injunctive relief against Defendant Minoli and any of her officers, agents, successors, employees, representatives and any and all persons acting in concert with her: 1. Prohibiting DMV employees from sharing information or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration enforcement agencies motivated by animus against Latino individuals or other non-white individuals; and 2. Requiring DMV supervisors to take affirmative measures to train DMV employees and to supervise DMV employees to ensure that no discriminatory information-sharing or cooperation persists; Award Plaintiffs nominal, compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the Vermont torts of intrusion on seclusion, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and false imprisonment; Award pre-judgment and post-judgment interest to the extent permitted by law;

40

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 41 of 42

I G.
2 3 H.

Award Plaintiffs their costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 and the Equal Access to Justice Act, 5 U.S.C. § 504, 28 U.S.C. § 2412; and Award such further and additional relief as is just and proper.

4

5

Respectfully submitted,

6

7 Date: January 31, 2019 Burlington, Vermont
8

9

Lia Em t

James . Diaz

10

ACLU FOUNDATION OF VERMONT

P.O. Box 277

11

Montpelier, VT 05601

(802) 223-6304

12

lemst@acluvt.org

jdiaz@acluvt.org 13

Claudia Wilner*

14

Marc Cohan*

NATIONAL CENTER FOR LAW AND

15

ECONOMIC JUSTICE

275 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1506

16

New York, New York I0001-6860

(212) 633-6967

17

wilner@nclej.org

cohan@nclej .org

18

Angelo Guisado**

19

Ghita Schwarz**

Guadalupe Aguirre**

20

CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

666 Broadway, 7th floor

21

New York, NY 10012

212-614-6454

22

AGuisado@ccrjustice.org

GSchwarz@ccrjustice.org

23

LAguirre@ccrjustice.org

24

Trudy S. Rebert**

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER

25

PO Box 721361

Jackson Heights, NY 11372

26

(646) 867-8793

rebert@nilc.org

27

Joshua Rosenthal**

28

Joshua Stehlik**

NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER

41

Case 5:18-cv-00192-gwc Document 22 Filed 02/07/19 Page 42 of 42

1

3450 Wilshire Blvd, #108-62

Los Angeles, CA 90010

2

(213) 639-3900

rosenthal@nilc.org

3

stehlik@nilc.org

4

Joel M. Cohen**

Amanda Aycock**

5

Jaclyn Neely**

GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP

6

200 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10166

7

(212) 351-4000

JCohen@gibsondunn.com

8

9

• Pro Hae Vice Applications Forthcoming

10

•• Appearing Pro Hae Vice

11

Counsel for Plaintiffs

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

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