Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Over Use Of National Crime Database

Liability & Insurance Week, Jan 5, 2004

The federal government's use of information in the National Criminal Information Center database to enforce civil immigration laws has been challenged in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

The proposed class action was brought by the National Council of La Raza, the New York Immigration Coalition, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Latin American Workers Project and Unite against the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.

In 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft said his department had determined civil information about noncitizens should be added to the database, which has been restricted to criminal records since it was created in the 1920s.

He justified the action on grounds state and local police officials have "inherent authority" to arrest and detain people in violation of immigration laws.