Resource: Brizuela v. Feliciano

In February 2012 Sergio Brizuela, a resident of East Haven represented by the Yale Law School Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic, filed a proposed state-wide class action lawsuit against the Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) on behalf of all persons held by DOC based solely on the basis of an immigration detainer, an administrative notice from the Department of Homeland Security that provides no actual legal basis for continued detention. Prior to Mr. Brizuela’s suit, these detainers were customarily honored by Connecticut jails and prisons. As a result, members of Connecticut’s immigrant communities were detained in violation of their rights and without the opportunity for legal recourse. Mr. Brizuela himself was held unlawfully by DOC for several days.