By Brandon Gee
Knoxville News-Sentinel
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In one of his first decisions since joining the bench, U.S. District Court Judge Kevin H. Sharp has advanced a lawsuit challenging Metro Nashville’s authority to investigate the immigration status of jail inmates and determine whether to turn them over for federal deportation proceedings.
Nashville immigration attorney Elliott Ozment argues that the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office’s participation in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program known as 287(g) violates the 1963 charter that consolidated city and county governments. The charter stripped the Sheriff’s Office of most of its law enforcement powers, but left it in charge of Nashville’s jails.
Sharp’s ruling hands Ozment an important victory that will allow him to pursue an expanded case — with larger stakes — in federal court.
Ozment originally sued Metro government in state court in hopes of quickly winning an injunction that would stop the 287(g) program, but the case was transferred to federal court after Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Carol McCoy ruled that ICE was a party to the dispute.
In federal court, Sharp denied Metro’s and ICE’s motions to dismiss the lawsuit and rejected Metro’s argument that Ozment lacked standing to amend his state court complaint to add a third plaintiff to the case and additional federal claims.
In addition to his contention that the Sheriff’s Office is violating the Metro charter, Ozment now also alleges false imprisonment, violations of the federal Administrative Procedure Act and violations of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
“That’s why this was such an important victory,” he said. “We were afraid of being in an unending ping-pong match between the state court and federal court ... so we wanted to add federal causes of action. We were trying to solidify the claims against the federal government.”
Ozment wants to put an end to the program, but he also is seeking damages on behalf of three Nashville residents caught up in the program: a U.S. citizen of Mexican descent who was twice detained for days by the Sheriff’s Office; a permanent lawful resident from Honduras who was held for questioning about his immigration status; and a Nashville woman from El Salvador who is a lawful temporary resident and whose son is in deportation proceedings as a result of the 287(g) program in Nashville.
Metro argued that its participation in the 287(g) program does not violate the Metro charter and that Ozment’s lawsuit is pointless because state law requires jailers to verify the citizenship of inmates regardless of whether it participates in 287(g).
Sharp was unconvinced and, in response to the latter argument, wrote that “Metro has not shown that the state law requirements for immigration screening are anywhere near as rigorous as those conducted under a Section 287(g) program.”
Davidson County joined the 287(g) program in 2007 and has been the pilloried ever since by advocates who say it too often targets minor offenders, rather than dangerous criminals.
In May, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said the program may not continue if the number of immigrants detained continues to decline. The number of deportation proceedings for Nashville inmates has decreased 40 percent since 2008.
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