Appeals court rejects civil claim against ICE officer who allegedly shoved KC lawyer
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not violate the constitutional rights of an immigration lawyer who was injured after allegedly being shoved to a concrete sidewalk outside of a Kansas City detention facility in 2018.
In its ruling, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Fourth Amendment violation brought by Kansas City lawyer Andrea Martinez was invalid because ICE officer Ronnet Sasse was entitled to qualified immunity, which safeguards law enforcement officers from legal consequences for performing actions in the course of official duty. The decision reversed an earlier one issued in the Western District of Missouri.
In a statement, Tom Bastian, a spokesman for the Missouri ACLU, which provided legal representation for Martinez, said the lawsuit is not over as certain actions by Sasse are unaffected by the appeal.
“We will review the decision with Ms. Martinez and decide what steps to take in response,” Bastian said.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019, stems from an incident that unfolded outside of the Enforcement and Removal Operations office on North Ambassador Drive in the early hours of June 26, 2018. Around 3 a.m., Martinez arrived there to reunite a 3-year-old boy with his mother, Kenia Bautista-Mayorga, who was being deported to Honduras.
The boy and his mother had been separated by ICE for a little more than a month while Bautistia-Mayorga was being held in the Platte County Jail. During that time, the boy was in the care of Luis Alfredo Diaz Inestroza, also an undocumented Honduran, who was the romantic partner of Bautistia-Mayorga and the father of her unborn child.
Inestroza brought the boy to the ICE office to say goodbye to his partner when he was taken into custody. As Martinez followed them toward the door, she said Inestroza was forced inside and she was pushed to the ground by Sasse and another ICE agent, who then locked the door.
Martinez said she suffered a broken foot and cuts on her foot and knee. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital from the ICE facility parking lot.
The event was captured on camera as the case was being filmed by a documentary crew for the Netflix series “Living Undocumented.” The series highlighted Bautista-Mayorga’s case as an example of the experience of undocumented immigrant families living in the U.S.
The appellate court noted in its ruling that Martinez may have a separate claim of excessive force for assault and battery based on an unjustified use of force. But the ruling says the incident did not meet the legal standard of being a Fourth Amendment violation.
Attorney Todd Graves, who represented Sasse, said Thursday that the officer was pleased with the court’s decision.
“She was a law enforcement officer doing her job, nothing more, nothing less. And we’re pleased that the court saw it that way,” he said.
