$50,000 settles Peruvian’s Alaska case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A lawsuit was settled by a Peruvian man who alleged police officers in a city north of Anchorage wrongfully detained him over his immigration status after he tried to break up a bar fight, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska announced Tuesday.

In exchange for dropping his lawsuit against the city of Palmer and members of its police force, Alex Caceda received $50,000, a written apology from the city, and changes to police procedures regarding immigration detainers and warrants.

Procedural changes include an acknowledgment “that unauthorized presence in the United States is not a crime” and enforcement is reserved for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, according to the ACLU.

The lawsuit, which challenged the authority of local law enforcement officials to make civil immigration arrests, said Caceda was helping provide security at a bar in Palmer in August 2017 when a fight broke out. Caceda tried to help a female bartender who was being attacked, and was assaulted by three men, according to the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, when police showed up, an officer asked a dispatcher to contact federal immigration officials when Caceda said he was from Peru and produced his passport as identification.

Caceda is married to a U.S. citizen, but he “did not have legal immigration status at the time of this incident,” according to the lawsuit.