Subject of planned Utah ACLU suit is released to customs officials (The Salt Lake Tribune)

Subject of planned Utah ACLU suit is released to customs officials

The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Jul 23 2011 08:02PM

A 22-year-old man expected to be the subject of an ACLU lawsuit against the Salt Lake County sheriff has been turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Enrique Antonio Uroza was released to ICE on Friday at 3:29 p.m., according to the Salt Lake County Jail log. He was booked into Utah County Jail at 3:50 p.m. on an ICE hold.

The American Civil Liberties Union says it plans to file a lawsuit against Sheriff Jim Winder this week in federal court, saying the jail is keeping suspected undocumented immigrants like Uroza indefinitely, even when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests detention for only 48 hours.

On Friday, Winder said a state court judge cannot free a jail inmate who the federal government says is in the country illegally.

Winder had said he would continue to hold Uroza until a federal judge orders his release or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removes the detainer it has placed on him. Uroza had been in the Salt Lake County Jail since June 13.

On Thursday, 3rd District Judge Bruce Lubeck ordered Uroza released on the $5,000 bail he previously posted.

But Winder said he was following SB81, a law passed by the Utah Legislature in 2008. It requires sheriffs to make "a reasonable effort" to determine the immigration status of jail inmates. However, the bill says nothing about detaining inmates once their immigration status has been determined.