There used to be a policy in Miami-Dade that allowed undocumented immigrants to be held in prison, but that might not be the case for long. Milton Hirsch is the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, he stated that the policy, which allowed undocumented immigrants to be held in jail for up to five weeks, violated the Tenth Amendment.
James Lacrox pled guilty to driving a car with a suspended license, he was supposed to be released from jail, but the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made him stay without reason. James and his attorney, who is named Phillip Reizenstein, brought the case before Milton. Milton then stated that there was no reason for James to be held in jail. He also stated that the county is prohibited from forcing James to be a prisoner.
Phillip claimed that immigration is not the issue – James was taken into custody so that he could be deported faster, and that is the real problem. The judge ruled that the incarceration was totally unconstitutional.
Sadly, this ruling probably is not going to help James – because he will eventually be deported. However, it is going to help a lot of other people.
Phillip stated that he is hoping that the rest of the country will follow suit. He also stated that many people are anti-immigration. James entered the country legally in 2010 after the earthquake in Haiti. He was arrested several times for driving with a suspended license.
James was also charged with assault and battery, but the charges were later dropped. He was taken into custody two days before the ruling. It is unclear about how this ruling will affect Trump’s order. Phillip stated that he is going to publish the order for other attorneys to see.