Northwest man files complaint against U.S. Border Patrol

An administrative complaint has been filed against U.S. Border Patrol after a Portland man said he was pulled off a Greyhound bus, unlawfully detained and arrested even after showing valid documents of his legal right to be in the U.S.

>> RELATED: Portland comedian questioned by Border Patrol agents in Spokane

The complaint is being filed on behalf of the man by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

In a news release, the complaint alleges Mohanad Elshieky was racially profiled and taken off the bus by Border Patrol officers during a layover at the Greyhound Bus Station in Spokane.

A representative for the man also alleges that when he showed officers the documents, they disregarded them and called him a lying “illegal.”

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Damages by the man’s representatives are being sought after under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which is said to interfere with a person’s freedom of movement that amounts to an unlawful arrest or false imprisonment.

“Since coming to the United States, I have followed all the rules asked of me, applying for and obtaining asylum so that I can remain safe. I would hope that the same immigration officials that expect me to follow the law would do the same and respect my rights,” Elshieky said in the release.

The release also said that Border Patrol officers have been targeting immigrants and persons of color, demanding to see their papers and detaining them, although the buses at the Spokane Intermodal Center don’t go to the border.

“Arrests like this one are especially egregious because Border Patrol knows very well these buses are not coming from or going to the international border,” Matt Adams, legal director for NWIRP, said.

In the release, it said a Spokane city ordinance bars the border officers’ “warrantless presence” in the bus boarding area of the Intermodal Center because it is owned by the city of Spokane.

Cox Media Group