A civil trial against three Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers accused of doing a warrantless night raid targeting undocumented workers in a home near Aspen begins in Denver federal court on Monday.
Sugay Guerrero, who lives in rural Pitkin County 16 miles from Aspen, has sued special ICE agents Steve Turza, Chris Carter and Vanessa Hipps. The three work in Homeland Security Investigations Glenwood Springs’ office.
Guerrero’s lawsuit contends the ICE operation around 5:30 a.m. on March 24, 2009, violated her Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. Ted Hess, her Glenwood Springs attorney, said a U.S. Supreme Court decision permits victims of federal police misconduct to sue officers who violate their constitutional rights.
“The issue is whether we are going to allow American immigration officers to barge into homes at night — without a warrant, without consent, and in violation of our search and seizure law — to catch undocumented workers and their families,” Hess said.
In the suit, Guerrero claims ICE officers “barged into her home; charged up the stairs; and pounded on the bedroom doors, shouting, ‘Police, Police, There’s been an accident outside. Get up.’ ”
The agents entered bedrooms shining flashlights in the eyes of the sleeping residents, Hess said. But there had been no accident and police were not involved, Hess said. It was merely a ruse.
The ICE agents rounded up Guerrero, her boyfriend, her three sisters and their husbands, two friends of the family and three children who are U.S. citizens.
Guerrero’s sisters and their husbands were detained and deported. Guerrero has applied for permanent residence in the U.S.
The defendants filed a motion to summarily dismiss the case in 2012, arguing in part that when no one answered the front door, they believed the occupants may have succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning, according to court records. The motion was denied.
Guerrero’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kmitchelldp
