US Citizen and Army Veteran Submits Claims for Unconstitutional Immigration Detention

LOS ANGELES—George Retes, a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies for three days and three nights. During that time, he was denied access to an attorney, was not allowed to make a phone call, was not presented to a judge, and was put in an isolation cell. He missed his daughter’s third birthday. He was never charged with a crime.

Now, George has taken steps to sue the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for his unconstitutional detention—by submitting claims to the federal agencies involved. George is represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit public interest law firm that recently won an FTCA case at the U.S. Supreme Court.