Two Teens Say They Were Beaten in INS Detention Camp, File Lawsuit
SAN DIEGO — Two teen-agers who said they were beaten by U.S. immigration officers while being held at a detention camp for juvenile illegal aliens sued the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court and did not specify an amount for damages.
According to the suit, William Garcia Ramos and Jorge Ortega Linares, both 18, were physically abused while incarcerated last year at a facility for alien minors near El Centro. The separate incidents allegedly occurred in July and August, when the youths were accused of “misbehaving” and showing disrespect for camp guards.
Garcia, a Salvadoran now living in Oakland, charged that an INS officer grabbed him by the hair, slammed his head against a wall, hit him in the face repeatedly and twisted his arm behind his back.
In the second incident, Ortega, a Honduran now living in Spain, alleged that two INS officers punched and kicked him and Garcia, and that one of the youth’s had his head slammed against a wall. Ortega also charged that he was lifted off the floor by the neck.
The spokeswoman for the INS Western regional office in Laguna Niguel was unavailable for comment.
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