ACLU: 2 mentally disabled immigrants detained for years in Calif. will be freed
By APWednesday, March 31, 2010
ACLU: 2 mentally disabled detainees to be freed
SAN DIEGO — A civil rights group says two mentally disabled immigrants who were ruled incompetent for deportation hearings will be freed after spending up to five years in federal detention.
The American Civil Liberties Union says immigration officials will release Guillermo Gomez-Sanchez and Jose Antonio Franco-Gonzalez to their families on Wednesday from a San Diego facility.
However, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service didn’t immediately confirm that report.
The men, both Mexican citizens with criminal records, were held after being ruled incompetent for deportation hearings. Gomez-Sanchez is a paranoid schizophrenic and Gonzalez has the mental age of a child.
The civil rights groups contend the men were deprived of their constitutional right to due process.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A civil rights group says two mentally disabled immigrants who spent several years in federal detention are being released to their families in Southern California.
The American Civil Liberties Union says immigration officials will release Guillermo Gomez-Sanchez and Jose Antonio Franco-Gonzalez on Wednesday from a San Diego facility.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service didn’t immediately confirm that report.
The men, both Mexican citizens with criminal records, were held after being ruled incompetent for deportation hearings. Gomez-Sanchez is a paranoid schizophrenic, and Gonzalez has the mental age of a child.
The civil rights groups contend the men were deprived of their constitutional right to due process.
