Lawsuit claims deputies detained man for being foreign-born

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has filed suit against a sheriff and his deputies, claiming he was illegally detained for no other reason than being born in Jamaica. The federal lawsuit filed Thursday says Neville Brooks was a lawful permanent U.S. resident when he was detained by Marion County deputies in August 2020. The suit says a federal immigration officer told county employees Brooks wasn’t subject to any immigration detention request. The lawsuit seeks financial damages and an order barring the sheriff’s office from detaining people for immigration enforcement merely because they are born outside the U.S.  It says the man was diagnosed with COVID-19 days after being jailed.