The United Farm Workers and the ACLU of California have filed a lawsuit against the federal government regarding January's deportation raids in Kern County, which resulted in 78 arrests. The defendants include the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Border Patrol. Plaintiffs, consisting of Kern County residents, assert that the raids violated their constitutional rights by racially profiling individuals based on appearance. The complaint highlights coercive practices used by agents and claims that many detainees were wrongfully pressured to forfeit their rights to an immigration hearing. The lawsuit represents a significant challenge to immigration enforcement practices targeting Latino communities.
"They stopped us because we look Latino or like farm workers, because of the color of our skin. It was unfair," said plaintiff Hernandez Espinoza in a news release.
"Agents appeared to be racially profiling people who looked undocumented, asking them for documentation and targeting drivers on their way to work on a highway that farm workers routinely use to go to work," said UFW Foundation attorney Sofia Corona.
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