Five Months In Solitary For Traffic Ticket
The Mexican citizen says he was repeatedly beaten and denied medical treatment.
Fernando Figueroa-Barajas sued ICE New Orleans Field Office Director for Enforcement and Removal George H. Lund III, and other unidentified ICE agents, for First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment violations.
Pascagoula, Miss., police arrested Figueroa on Sept. 5, 2013, for a traffic violation.
ICE agents then took him to detention near Gulfport, Miss., shackled at his wrists, ankles and waist…
When he refused and asked to speak with an attorney, an ICE agent “grabbed the back of plaintiff’s head by his hair and slammed it against the surface in front of him several time,” according to the complaint.
Bleeding profusely from the face, Figueroa was put on the floor and the same agent kicked him repeatedly, he claims. He was put in a holding area after the agent realized the severity of Figueroa’s injuries, where another agent noticed the plaintiff and inquired about his condition…
Within a matter of minutes Figueroa became dizzy and began vomiting and convulsing. Paramedics were called and he was rushed to a hospital, during which time the first two ICE agents, along with a third, “prevented plaintiff from explaining to medical personnel how he had received his injuries, thus interfering with his access to adequate medical care,” the complaint states…
Upon leaving the hospital and being transferred to St. Tammany Parish Jail, one or more of the agents told the jail’s nursing staff that Figueroa was suicidal. He was stripped naked and put in an isolation cell. The false accusation of suicidal behavior resulted in Figueroa remaining in solitary confinement for more than five months, the lawsuit states.
