10-year-old's attorneys file motion in deportation case

The attorneys for a 10-year-old Willmar, Minn., boy questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in April said his constitutional rights were violated and today filed a motion to suppress evidence in the deportation case against him.

Sammy Diaz-Maldonado was ripped from his mother’s side the morning of April 10 and “interrogated” by two 2 ICE officials armed with guns, said attorney Gloria Contreras-Edin, executive director of Centro Legal.

“He was crying, he was shaking, and he was scared,” she said. According to Contreras-Edin, it’s not unusual for minors to have removal proceedings against them, but the manner in which Sammy was questioned was unusual, and “unconscionable,” she said.

Sammy’s attorneys said the government violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments and the Immigration and Naturalization Act by raiding the home he was in and questioning him without a parent or attorney present.

They also filed motions to terminate the removal proceedings against Sammy and investigate what happened that day. Judge Kristin W. Olamnson will respond to the motion at an Oct. 25 hearing.

Sammy’s attorneys did not say whether their client is in the country legally, but they oppose how the government collected evidence against him.

Sammy said of his court appearance this morning, “I was nervous.” He said the April 10 incident was “horrible, just horrible.”