WASHINGTON — The US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee granted class certification in a lawsuit alleging US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) violated the rights of over 100 Latino workers in a 2018 raid at Southeastern Provisions LLC.

Following the raid at the Morristown, Tenn., meat processing facility, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), along with their co-counsel, sought class certification on behalf of the workers suspected to be targeted because of their race.

“This raid was conducted in an unnecessarily violent, humiliating and demeaning manner toward Latino workers,” said Michelle Lapointe, senior staff attorney for NILC. “Plaintiffs seek justice on behalf of all Latino workers detained during the raid. We are pleased the court will allow the case to proceed as a class action and look forward to proving our claims in court.”

The plaintiffs showed the court evidence confirming that agents knew that they did not have reasonable suspicion as to any specific employee and video evidence indicating that Hispanic workers were treated differently than white workers.

In the Memorandum Opinion, US District Judge Travis McDonough found that prior to the raid agents discussed “arresting Hispanic workers and conflated Hispanic ethnicity with illegal status.” The court also noted that current evidence shows no white workers were arrested at the raid, and while white workers were released, agents lined up and frisked Latino workers.

The ruling means that over 100 Latino class members may now proceed collectively to prosecute this civil rights case against ICE and IRS agents as the case enters the summary judgment phase this fall.  

“As class counsel, we look forward to defending the constitutional rights of each class member whom the federal agents unlawfully targeted for enforcement during the Raid,” Meredith Stewart, senior supervising attorney for the Immigrant Justice Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “The Constitution protects all people from law enforcement overreach, and the class members look forward to vindicating those rights in Court. This week’s ruling is a significant step in our fight for justice for our clients and their families.”