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.
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