Suppression Motion Victory in NYC Immigration Court

On October 3, 2007, Richard Geduldig of New York City won a case for one of his clients using a suppression motion in immigration court! Immigration Judge Helen Sichel granted the suppression motion based on the proof that two customs and border patrol agents held a Middle Eastern man (from Israel) in illegal investigative detention. The IJ agreed with Richard Geduldig's arguments that:

The agents detained the Israeli man. By having two armed agents come directly up to the man and stand just 2-3 feet away while asking questions and telling him he should stay seated and not get up, the Israeli man reasonably felt that he was not free to leave.

The agents based their decision to detain the Israeli man for impermissible reasons, including race-based questioning. The IJ concluded that the agents had no permissible reason for going straight up to the only Middle Eastern person in the waiting room of around 40 people. The IJ concluded his Middle Eastern appearance was the basis for choosing him -- even though the agent testified that he never practices racial profiling.

Because race-based illegal interrogations (and seizures) are egregious 4th Amendment violations and also because unjustified investigative detention violates certain regulations, the correct decision was to suppress the evidence that the government obtained. As a result, the IJ terminated the case against the Israeli man.

This case shows that government agents seem to be regularly violating people's Fourth Amendment rights. And that it is important for immigration lawyers to file suppression motions in the appropriate cases, which can succeed. In this case, the Israeli man was illegally interrogated while a bus made a stop in Jacksonville, Florida on its way south from New York City.