NJ Residents Reach Settlement on Unlawful Raids

Eight New Jersey residents will share nearly $300,000 after settling a case with federal immigration officials over what their attorneys say were warrantless home raids.

The group brought the case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2008 after a series of pre-dawn raids on plaintiffs' homes. They claimed the raids were conducted without warrants or the homeowners' consent.

Most of the plaintiffs are legal immigrants. One of them, Ana Galindo of Paterson, says agents wouldn't accept her New Jersey ID and pulled a gun on her 9-year-old son.

ICE officials did not immediately return a request for comment Monday, the day the settlement was announced.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, the Civil Rights and Constitutional Litigation Clinic at Seton Hall University Law School and Lowenstein Sandler PC represented the plaintiffs.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press