Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) is a non-profit regional law firm that provides high quality legal assistance in civil matters to help eligible low-income individuals and groups in western Ohio achieve self reliance, and equal justice and economic opportunity.
Family separation in Ohio – families detained for ICE arrest while fishing
Families taking a Sunday off from their hard work should be able to spend time in a public place without fear of being detained without reason, arrested, and jailed. An Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer detained three Latino agricultural workers and their five young children for more than 90 minutes after calling the U.S. Border Patrol to come and take them away. Five young children witnessed their parents’ apprehensions, and one of the children – a 6-year-old girl – was rushed to the hospital with difficulty breathing that was later determined to be “anxiety as an acute reaction to exceptional stress.”
An 18-year-old relative cared for all five children for three weeks — when ICE released one parent on a $12,000 bond. A second adult was released three months later on a $25,000 bond. The third adult was released nine months later on a $5,000 bond after ICE deported her and then returned her to the U.S.
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality is representing the families in a lawsuit to seek justice for their detention and arrest without probable cause or reasonable suspicion they had committed a crime in violation of the 14th Amendment based on their race, ethnicity or perceived national origin.