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ACLU Miami Chapter Files Suit on Behalf of New York Taxi Driver Strip-Searched, Detained by U.S. Customs Agents at MIA
July 2, 2003
MIAMI ? The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida's Greater Miami Chapter filed a federal lawsuit today against the federal government and U.S. Customs agents for civil rights violations stemming from the wrongful detention of a New York cab driver who was repeatedly interrogated and subjected to a strip-search and X-ray examination after arriving at an airport in Miami.
"This is yet another example of government agents abusing their power to intimidate and harass an innocent citizen without having evidence of any wrongdoing," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, President of the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU of Florida. "The customs agents used the threat of indefinite detention to illegally imprison and humiliate this man. There's no excuse for this kind of blatant disregard for his privacy and due process rights."
Filed today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of Amado López, a U.S. citizen who lives in Bronx, New York, and who was detained for approximately ten hours on July 25, 2000 after arriving on an early morning flight at Miami International Airport. López was returning from a vacation in Caracas, Venezuela and was scheduled to catch a connecting flight from Miami to his home in New York later that morning.
Shortly after landing, López claimed his luggage and proceeded to the U.S. Custom's checkpoint area, where he was then approached by U.S. Custom agents who seized his travel documents and escorted him into a small, enclosed room. For the remainder of the day, the agents interrogated López about his travels plans, searched his luggage and then ordered him to remove all of his clothing and submit to a highly intrusive search.
Though agents found no evidence of illegal contrabands, López's disturbing ordeal continued when agents escorted him to the bathroom and watched him relieve himself. In its lawsuit, the ACLU charges that customs officers subjected López to constant "degrading ridicule and mockery" and ignored his repeated requests to speak to an attorney. The 10-page complaint also states that agents then pressured him to sign a form consenting to an x-ray of his stomach and abdominal area.
"After persistent threat of indefinite detention, López signed the consent form under extreme duress and coercion," said ACLU South Florida Staff Counsel Rosalind Matos, who is directly representing López. "He reasonably believed that if he did not sign, Customs officers would keep him detained indefinitely."
López was handcuffed, shackled and paraded through a crowd of on-lookers in the baggage claim area. He was then transported in a van to Jackson Memorial Hospital where X-rays were taken.
"It was a horrible, humiliating experience," said López. "They treated me like an ordinary criminal. The entire ordeal was terrifying beyond belief."
After offering Lopez a compensation of $40, which he refused to accept, the Customs officers escorted him back to the Miami International Airport where he took a flight home. He arrived in New York at 11 p.m., nearly 14 hours after his ordeal began at the airport in Miami.
The ACLU alleges in its lawsuit that the actions of U.S. Customs officers violated Lopez's rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by illegally detaining and searching him without reasonable suspicion and probable cause. The ACLU charges also that the federal government ? a named defendant in the lawsuit ? is liable for the agents' actions. The ACLU is seeking unspecified damages for López to compensate him for the humiliation and maltreatment he suffered.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, President of the ACLU's Greater Miami Chapter, (305) 582-1255 or Alessandra Soler Meetze, 305-576-2336, ext. 16
