The ACLU is suing the federal government and Los Angeles County on behalf of a developmentally disabled U.S. citizen wrongfully deported to Mexico. Federal immigration officials deported Peter Guzman from a Los Angeles County jail to Tijuana last May. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has the story.
Guzman was born and raised in Lancaster, California. Last spring, he was arrested for trespassing and booked into an L.A. County jail.
Guzman's attorney, Jim Brosnahan, says Sheriffs trolled the cells for people who looked Latino and might be in the country illegally. They mistakenly picked out Guzman, though Brosnahan says the Sheriff's own records showed Guzman is a U.S. citizen.
Brosnahan : They took Peter, put him on a bus, sent him down to Tijuana. He had three dollars in his pocket. And he was in northern Mexico for about over 85 days.
Guzman is developmentally disabled. He has trouble remembering things, like even his own phone number.
Guzman's family searched for him in Tijuana streets, hospitals and morgues for three months. He finally turned up at the border in Calexico.
The lawsuit seeks damages and for the court to declare Guzman's constitutional rights were violated.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
