United Paged Passenger To The Gate—Then ICE Agents Surrounded Her. Now She’s Suing The Airline

A United Airlines passenger says the carrier repeatedly paged her to the gate for a boarding pass problem, but there was nothing wrong with her boarding pass. It was all to lure her out in the open so that three plainclothes ICE agents could take her into custody. She spent the next 11 days in immigration detention. Now she and her husband are suing United, arguing that it used the authority passengers place in an airline announcement to lure her into an ambush. The is legal case does.. not appear strong, even if her legal presence was a lot firmer than you’d expect from the ICE operation and subsequent detention. Patience Gore is a 44-year-old Zimbabwean citizen who lives in Maryland. She was traveling home on United flight 483 from Phoenix to Washington Dulles on March 15 with her husband after attending a friend’s wedding in Arizona. They checked their bags, received boarding passes and were assigned adjacent seats, 14B and 14C. Neither passenger had been told about any ticketing, security or boarding problem. The redeye flight was scheduled to depart Phoenix Terminal 3, Gate E7, at 11:40 p.m. It was delayed and ultimately took off at 12:54 a.m. While the couple waited, a United employee allegedly made repeated public-address announcements specifically summoning Gore to the gate: “Passenger Patience Gore, please come to the gate.” She understood that United needed to resolve an airline matter and went to the counter with him. According to the federal complaint, the gate agent began referring to Gore’s boarding pass but never explained what was wrong with it. Almost immediately, three ICE agents approached her. United employees reportedly did not appear surprised, ask the men who they were or explain the supposed boarding pass issue. Gore’s husband says the agents refused to provide identification or answer his questions. The agents said they had a warrant and a removal order. Gore has lived in the United States for 24 years. While she was denied asylum in 2011, she received withholding of removal to Zimbabwe because an immigration judge found that returning her there would threaten her life or freedom. She reportedly has no criminal record, complied with regular ICE check-ins and has sole custody of an 11-year-old U.S. citizen daughter. She has worked for USAA for 12 years and is a senior manager in risk modeling. She married a U.S. citizen. She has an approved employment-based I-140 petition and pending I-130 and I-485 applications. She doesn’t yet hold permanent residency. While ICE cannot legally send her back to Zimbabwe, that wouldn’t prevent her from being deported to a third country with which she has no connection, although that would be highly unusual: For someone married to a U.S. citizen With a U.S. citizen child When she has approved employment authorization And pending adjustment of status to become a permanent resident With no criminal record That’s a lot of resources for someone who appears to pose no risk to the United States, has been deemed employable, and likely near to becoming a permanent resident. Airlines routinely transmit passenger names, dates of birth, reservation numbers and itinerary information to TSA through the federal Secure Flight program. And TSA has been sharing this information with ICE. But lawsuit questions United’s role in directly helping ICE ambush her (although it seems like she could have been easily detained at the gate area without this, such as while boarding or once boarded). ICE held Gore from March 16 until March 27 where she says she slept on a mattress placed directly on the floor; had to use an exposed toilet without much privacy; was denied clean underwear; was strip searched and and had restraints around her wrists, waist and ankles; forced to eat breakfast at 4 a.m.; and wasn’t able to get her medicines. She also was forced to stop time-sensitive IVF protocols. That treatment failed after she was released from custody. Her attorney filed a federal habeas petition, the government did not oppose release, and a federal judge entered a release order days later. But how on earth is United liable here? Even if they allegedly ‘misused’ passenger announcement authority, and she was ‘falsely imprisoned’ (and this denied her husband sex, as the complaint contends) I don’t see what’s illegal here. The woman was released from custody but that doesn’t make her apprehension illegal even if it seems ill-advised. And the airline’s cooperating with ICE agents, who appear to have held an administrative warrant, doesn’t seem improper. United didn’t make the decision to arrest her. Under Arizona law, a private party can be liable for instigating a false arrest. But providing information or helping officers locate someone isn’t illegal. The decision to arrest was the government’s. Paging the woman may have made her arrest more convenient, but it didn’t cause the government to make that decision. (HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo) Topics on this page