A federal judge in Minnesota on Thursday ordered the release of a Liberian man four days after heavily armed immigration agents broke into his home using a battering ram and arrested him.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan stated in his ruling that the agents had violated Garrison Gibson’s Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure.
“To arrest him, Respondents forcibly entered Garrison G.’s home without his consent and without a judicial warrant,” Judge Bryan said.
The Department of Homeland Security has been escalating immigration arrests in Minnesota, claiming it is their largest enforcement operation. DHS reports over 2,500 arrests since November 29.
Marc Prokosch, Gibson’s attorney, expressed his satisfaction with the judge’s decision, noting that he had filed a habeas corpus petition, which challenges the legality of detentions, characterizing the arrest as a “blatant constitutional violation” due to the absence of a proper warrant.
During the raid, Gibson’s wife and their 9-year-old child were present in the Minneapolis home, with Prokosch stating that his wife was left deeply distressed by the incident.
Gibson, who is 37 years old, had been detained at an immigration center in Albert Lea after previously being held at a camp on Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, according to ICE's detainee locator.
The DHS has not yet commented on the ruling or Gibson's case.
Gibson, who fled the Liberian civil war as a child, was under an order of supervision after previously being ordered removed from the U.S. due to a dismissed drug conviction from 2008. Just days before this incident, he had reported to immigration authorities at a regional office where enforcement raids have been taking place.
Judge Bryan agreed with Gibson's claims, noting that officials “violated applicable regulations” by failing to provide adequate notice of the revocation of his order of supervision, as well as denying him an interview post-detention.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the DHS, mentioned that Gibson has “a lengthy rap sheet” involving various charges, although she did not clarify if these were arrests, accusations, or convictions.
Court records reveal that Gibson's history consists largely of one felony in 2008 and minor issues such as traffic violations and public transportation fare evasion.
In the Twin Cities, where President Donald Trump has intensified his immigration enforcement efforts, emotions are heightened following the shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent earlier this year, along with subsequent violent encounters involving immigration officers.
