Raul Gonzales v. The City of Peoria

This case concerns the authority of state and local police officers to arrest persons for violations of federal immigration laws. Eleven persons of Mexican descent brought this action against the City of Peoria, Arizona, and certain of its police officers and public officials. They claimed the city police, acting under policies adopted by the City, engaged in the practice of stopping and arresting persons of Mexican descent without reasonable suspicion or probable cause and based only on their race and appearance. It was alleged that persons stopped under this policy were required to provide identification or documentation of legal presence in the United States, and that persons not carrying identification or documentation were detained at the city jail for release to immigration authorities. Each of the plaintiffs claimed he had been unlawfully stopped, questioned and detained by the defendants in violation of the fourth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1871. These claims were not asserted as a class action, but as claims of individual plaintiffs against specific defendants.

After a bench trial, the district court, 537…