US citizen and Army vet sues feds after being detained for 7 months by immigration officials

US citizen held at immigration center sues feds

SEATTLE — A naturalized American citizen and Army veteran who was detained for more than seven months by immigration authorities is suing the federal agency and the officers who handled his case.

Rennison Castillo’s federal lawsuit is moving forward after a federal district court in Tacoma rejected an attempt by government lawyers to have the suit dismissed. The government appealed that ruling last month.

Castillo, who was born in Belize and became a U.S. citizen after serving in the Army, alleges that ICE officials violated his constitutional rights in 2005 by failing to properly check their databases, which held the evidence they needed to know he was an American citizen.

The government contends the ICE officials did not act willfully and did not intentionally violate Castillo’s constitutional rights.