An immigration advocacy group says it’s pressing forward with its lawsuit against Anne Arundel County because the county government and police department are still withholding documents on a June immigration raid.
“It’s [Anne Arundel’s] burden to conduct a reasonable search for records … and we believe they didn’t carry that procedural burden under the state’s public information act,” said Justin Cox, civil rights attorney for CASA de Maryland.
CASA mailed a Public Information Act request to the county in September, but Anne Arundel did not reply within the 30-day deadline mandated by the state law, CASA officials said.
CASA was seeking all documents pertaining to the raids on the Annapolis Painting Services company and 16 houses this summer in Annapolis that resulted in the arrest of 46 suspected illegal immigrants.
CASA did receive documents after filing a lawsuit Oct. 28 in Montgomery County Circuit Court. The Examiner obtained the same documents through a similar request.
The documents give some background into the raid and the six-month investigation into the painting company.
Officials allege company owner Robert Bontempo employed undocumented workers and housed them on several of his properties, according to the documents.
Bontempo allegedly deducted one-third of the workers’ pay for “taxes” that would be due after the workers received their green cards, according to the documents.
Bontempo, who has not been charged, did not return calls made to his Annapolis office.
The documents list 34 Anne Arundel police officers working the day of the raid, and the overtime records of a county detective working as undercover surveillance for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that led the raids and made the arrests.
The documents also include the county’s immigration policies as well as requests for proceeds from the sale of seized assets. County Executive John R. Leopold, who has been an active opponent of illegal immigrants, has instituted policies that make it easier to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities and harder for nonprofits who cannot prove the legal status of their clients to receive county money.
But Cox said Anne Arundel did not complete a full record search.
CASA received a detailed itinerary of the raid from the Annapolis police that appeared to have been distributed to all agencies involved in the raid; yet it was not included in the documents supplied by Anne Arundel officials.
“It’s not about the raid; it’s about the documents. We want to get what we’re entitled to,” Cox said.
However, in the lawsuit, CASA said officers violated the Fourth Amendment that protects against illegal search and arrest.
But illegal immigrants do not have the same protection legal residents have under the Constitution and Cox said he is hoping to have the evidence suppressed.
Jonathan Hodgson, Anne Arundel’s chief attorney, would not comment on CASA’s claims.
Meanwhile, Anne Arundel is seeking cash from the sale of the seized assets of Bontempo.
The county wants some of the proceeds from assets, which include 15 houses and 10 vehicles — including a 2004 Porsche and 2002 Mercedes-Benz — as well as $31,318 in currency, according to the documents.
In addition, the federal government has frozen Bontempo’s bank accounts, but has suspended seizure actions pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The county listed 450 hours of overtime involved in the investigation and raid as a contribution and reason for the request, according to the documents.
