LAWSUIT FILED IN EXPEDITED REMOVAL CASE

A Jamaican born student attending school in New York has filed suit against the INS for its treatment of him when he tried to reenter the US after a visit to Jamaica. The lawsuit alleges that the student, Richard Riley, was detained for more than 40 hours, shackled and strip-searched by immigration officials at JFK International Airport who did not believe his documents were authentic.

The lawsuit also accuses immigration officers of making racial slurs to Riley. According to the complaint, INS officers told Riley he could not be a permanent resident of the US because the only way Jamaicans can become permanent residents is by mopping floors or jerking chicken.

Riley was a special immigrant juvenile, a system through which foreign children who end up in the custody of a US court can obtain permanent residence. According to the lawsuit, the INS officers behaved as if they had never heard of such a designation, and ignored all of the other documentation he presented, including his Social Security card, a letter from Syracuse University, where he was attended school, and a letter from his attorney explaining his immigration status.

Riley was the victim of the expedited removal process, which allows INS border inspectors to decide whether a person is using fraudulent documents to try to enter the US, and to order their immediate deportation without recourse to a hearing before a judge.

The lawsuit seeks $2 million in damages.

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