Botkin Chiarello Calaf is seeking justice for several federal immigration detainees who were transported from Minnesota to Texas in recent months under the government’s current immigration policies.

BCC partners Asra Syed, Jennifer Colimon, and María America Calaf, associate Adam Goodrum, of counsel Angie Carrera, and legal assistant Laysha Gonzalez are leading the firm’s work arising from the unlawful arrest and detention of U.S. residents as part of the federal Operation Metro Surge, in which over 4,000 people have been taken into custody.

One BCC client is 23-year-old Andrea Pedro-Francisco, who is suffering from an ovarian cyst the size of a tennis ball. Andrea was brought to the same El Paso detention facility that stopped visitor access weeks ago due to a measles outbreak. She was arrested without a warrant on her way to work in a Minnesota suburb. Like the vast majority of those detained by ICE, she has no criminal record. On March 16, the federal judge overseeing Andrea’s habeas petition denied her request for access to emergency medical care while her case is pending.

Andrea’s story and Asra’s efforts to secure her release are the subject of a recent news article about how lawyers and legislators have come together to help Minnesota residents enduring similar circumstances.

BCC has filed several habeas corpus petitions challenging the constitutionality of the government’s continued detention of these Minnesota residents, including securing the release of two mothers who were taken from their children. The firm remains committed to demanding accountability and meaningful judicial review for the detainees transferred to Texas, separated from their families, and deprived of their due process rights.