Rennison Castillo, 33, a Belizean man who acquired his US citizenship while serving in the United States Army, but who was wrongfully detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), when they came across him in jail, has reportedly received a settlement of US$400,000 and an apology from the DHS.
An ICE attorney told the US Court of Appeal that “an unidentified person” had changed Castillo’s last name to “Castiuo.” His first name had also been changed to “Renison,” with one “n” being dropped from his name.
ICE claimed that this was the reason that they could not confirm Rennison Castillo’s status over the course of the 226 days (7½ months) during which he was held in detention at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. Castillo had been held on a US$25,000 bond.
Rennison Castillo was nearing the end of an 8-month sentence on domestic dispute charges when he was held by Linda Skwarski, one of five ICE officers against whom Castillo later filed suit in the US Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit.
The US government had asked the court to dismiss Castillo’s case, but US District Judge Benjamic Settle ruled that the matter could be heard, although he dismissed Michael Melendez, one of the defendants, from the case.
Settle’s decision sets out the entire historical background of Castillo’s case: Castillo was born in Belize in 1977, but went to live in the US at age 7, around 1984.
In 1990, his mother applied for an alien registration number and social security card for him. Castillo later applied, on his own, for permanent residency status in 1992, and enlisted in the US military in 1996. He received US nationality on October 28, 1998, while in the military, and was honorably discharged from service in 2003.
Two years later, on Belize’s Independence Day, September 21, 2005, Castillo, while in Pierce County jail, was questioned by Skwarski, one of the persons he later sued.
“During the conversation, [Castillo] alleges that he explained his immigration history, including the fact that he had been a legal permanent resident and applied for – and received – naturalization while serving in the United States military. He also described that he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen,” stated Settle’s decision.
However, the ICE officer did not believe Castillo — neither did her ICE colleagues, nor the judge who processed his case for deportation.
The court notes that the I-213 form which ICE officers had signed alleged that, “There is no record to indicate subject applied for relief/immigration status.”
The court also notes that the I-213, “‘Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien’ specifically excludes the information that Mr. Castillo provided, including that he was a U.S. citizen, that he gave a detailed account of his military service, his naturalization application process, and his attendance at his naturalization ceremony.”
He was transferred to Tacoma in November 2005.
“After being transferred, [Castillo] was approached by a female ICE officer, who introduced herself as Officer Stephens. [Castillo] alleges that he told Officer Stephens that he was a U.S. citizen, and that he had become a U.S. citizen while serving in the military. He described his naturalization ceremony in great detail. He also told Officer Stephens that his first name had been misspelled on his lawful permanent resident card (commonly known as a ‘green card’).
“Officer Stephens informed Mr. Castillo that the information she had in her computer did not substantiate his claims . . . ,” the court decision documented.
The judge went on to document that Castillo had alleged that during that same interview, Stephens asked if he wanted to go home.
“Thinking she meant his long-time home in Washington State, Mr. Castillo replied in the affirmative. Officer Stephens then handed him paperwork to sign. Mr. Castillo refused to sign after reading the paperwork and realizing that the papers were for a stipulated order of removal to Belize, his country of birth,” the court said.
The ICE attorney had allegedly told the immigration judge that they had “checked the database,” and there was nothing to indicate that Mr. Castillo had ever filed to become a U.S. citizen.
However, Castillo had maintained that his immigration status and citizenship information were in his immigration file and that during the entire length of his unlawful detention, ICE had access to his complete immigration history, his social security number, and his fingerprints, his date of birth, his parents’ names, and numerous other details, each of which independently would have revealed his citizenship status.
Castillo had testified in Immigration proceedings that he had a copy of his military identification and further explained that he had his official discharge papers in the trunk of his car, and that if given the opportunity he would present them to the Immigration court.
The judge had ordered Castillo’s deportation, but on the advice of NIRP attorneys, whom Castillo, undefended in the immigration case, had contacted for help, Castillo had a friend get the documents from his car to help prove his case, and was consequently released.
Castillo argued that ICE had failed to do even the minimum investigation to verify his immigration status.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), in a press release dated February 24, 2011, said Castillo had received assistance from NWIRP attorneys Matt Adams and Angelica Chazaro, who agreed to represent him in filing suit against the officers who were responsible for his detention.
“It took more than seven months for the government to finally admit it had made an error and release him. Now the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to pay him $400,000 and has issued a formal apology. In addition, the government has revised their operational instructions on how to handle persons who present U.S. citizen claims,” the press release said.
After learning of the case, the law firm of K&L Gates agreed to provide pro bono representation to Mr.
Castillo. K&L Gates lawyers representing Mr. Castillo included Douglas Greenswag, Theo Angelis, and Kymberly Evanson.
Theo Angelis, a partner with K&L Gates and one of Castillo’s attorneys, explained: “Our soldiers deserve honor, respect, and justice. We are proud of helping Mr. Castillo obtain an apology and just compensation.”
According to NWIRP, “The government agreed to enter settlement negotiations after a federal district court judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss [in December 2009].”