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Formal Complaint to INS

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Attachment to Form I-847
Complaint about INS mistreatment involving agent Dave Adkins.

Dear Stephen J. Farquharson,
INS District Director, Boston

My name is Amer Jubran. I am a resident of [address]. I am a Jordanian citizen with a permanent green card. On Monday, November 4, I was taken into custody at my Cumberland, Rhode Island home by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). At 8 A.M., while I was in the shower, four agents of the FBI and INS arrived at my door and forced their way into my apartment. They didn't identify themselves properly, and I was only able to catch the name of one agent, agent Dave Adkins of the INS. They then attempted to search my house without a warrant. They told me that I was wanted for questioning and that I would be released and returned to my home at noon. They did not read me my rights. Agent Adkins denied me my right to a phone call, saying, "Show me where in the constitution the word 'phone' exists." They then took me to INS facilities in Providence for processing.

Once there, the FBI attempted to interrogate me, asking me questions about my political organizing. When I refused to answer questions without my lawyer present, Agent Adkins explicitly threatened me with indefinite detention if I refused to waive this constitutional right. When I continued to insist on my rights, I was transferred to the Cranston Adult Correctional Institution, where the INS rents cells. I was not told at that time why I was being held. Agent Adkins forced me to put my fingerprints on a document admitting to false charges when I refused to sign it.

I was held for 17 days in Cranston before the INS agreed to set a bond hearing. Agents in Providence, RI initially claimed to my lawyer, Nelson Brill, that they intended to hold me 'indefinitely' but refused to state the charges under which they claimed the right to do so. In addition to substantially violating my constitutional rights under the 1st, 4th and 5th Amendments in the terms of my arrest and detention, INS agents also deprived me of my property without reporting this confiscation:

1) at the time of my arrest, INS agents took $400.00 from my kitchen table;

2) after my release, INS representatives in Cranston claimed to have 'lost' 200 letters, and all personal property which I compiled while in detention.

Here is a summary of my complaint:

  • INS collaborated with the FBI to target me as a well-known political activist;
  • INS & FBI did not identify themselves or give any reason for entering my home;
  • INS agents collaborated with the FBI in attempting to search my apartment without consent or a warrant;
  • INS agents took $400.00 in cash from the table in my kitchen and failed to report that as confiscated property;
  • The INS, represented by agent Dave Adkins, violated my right to due process by threatening me with indefinite detention in order to coerce me into waiving my right to counsel;
  • INS agent Dave Adkins refused to allow me my right to a phone call;--INS agent Dave Adkins forced me to put my fingerprints on a document admitting to charges when I refused to sign it;
  • INS detained me for 17 days at the Cranston Adult Correctional Institution, without setting bond, and threatened me with indefinite detention, without citing any regulations or appropriate sections of the law that would warrant either detention without bond or indefinite detention;
  • After my release, the INS representatives at the ACI in Cranston failed to return my letters and other property.

The actions which I have listed above show a clear pattern of willful disregard for principles of the US Constitution and a blatant abuse of power on the part of agents of the INS. I request a prompt and thorough investigation into this gross misconduct.

Yours respectfully,

Amer Jubran

CC: Commissioner Michael Garcia
Immigration and Naturalization Service
425 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20536

John Reinstein
American Civil Liberties Union
99 Chauncy St. SW 310
Boston, MA 02111