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The deportation of a Cuban immigrant while in custody of authorities in Las Vegas has raised alarm among civil rights advocates and migrant communities, revealing how cooperation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can leave a person without a real opportunity to defend themselves in court.
The case of Sergio Morales Echevarría, a Cuban detained at the Clark County Detention Center, is at the center of a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada against the Metropolitan Police Department of Las Vegas.
The organization claims that the immigrant was handed over to ICE and subsequently deported in violation of a court order, which would have infringed upon his right to due process, according to a report by Wyoming Public Media, part of the Mountain West News Bureau.
According to the ACLU, a judge from the Nevada District Court had ordered that Morales Echevarría be transferred to a treatment center for inpatients. However, that transfer never took place. Instead, the Cuban was released directly into ICE custody from the local jail, a decision that, according to lawyers, was not backed by any court order.
“This detention does not come from a judge, nor from the judicial power; it simply comes from an ICE official,” said Sadmira Ramich, chief attorney for the ACLU of Nevada, in court, as reported by Wyoming Public Media.
The problem, advocates warn, is that this type of handover can eliminate any possibility for the detainee to appear before the courts or exercise their right to effective legal defense.
The background of the case is set against the rapid expansion of the 287(g) agreements, mechanisms that allow local law enforcement agencies to collaborate in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
According to research from Mountain West News Bureau, these agreements quintupled in 2025 in the mountain west states, rising from 10 to 54, with Nevada among the entities that have strengthened this cooperation.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department acknowledges that it notifies ICE when individuals born abroad are arrested for certain offenses, although it insists that its officers do not directly enforce immigration laws.
In the specific case of Morales Echevarría, the attorneys for the department argued before the court that the 287(g) agreement was not yet formally in effect at the time of the arrest, a position that the ACLU views as an attempt to evade the core of the issue.
For many civil organizations, the human impact goes beyond legal technicalities. Experts like Michael Kagan, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, warn that handing over detainees to ICE can deny them the opportunity to defend themselves, as most immigration processes are civil and administrative in nature, not criminal.
“It is not a crime; it is an immigration law matter,” Kagan emphasized in statements reported by Wyoming Public Media.
As a complementary element, records from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) place Morales Echevarría within official listings that group immigrants considered high-priority for deportation.
The ACLU claims to have documented hundreds of ICE detentions in the Clark County jail, although local police have declined to confirm any figures. Meanwhile, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has publicly defended these collaborations and warned that ICE's presence will be "sustained" and, at times, more intense.
In the case of the Cuban immigrant, it was not possible to contact him. The ACLU claims he was deported to Mexico, despite the ongoing litigation regarding his detention. The next court hearing is scheduled for January, and it could establish a key precedent on the limits of cooperation between local police and ICE.
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