The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is suing the federal government, accusing it of unconstitutionally raiding the homes of immigrant families.

In a lawsuit filed in the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia's Atlanta Division, the civil rights group alleges U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials entered the homes of immigrant families without warrants, consent or probable cause - in violation of the Fourth Amendment - solely to detain and deport families, mostly women and children.

SPLC brought the suit on behalf of three families caught in a targeted sweep of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala on Jan. 2-3, 2016. In one instance, the complaint alleges, ICE agents claimed to be police searching for criminal suspects and threatened to arrest a family member for obstructing a fictitious criminal investigation to get into the house.

In two other raids, ICE agents allegedly showed the residents a photo of the African-American man they claimed to be looking for. Once inside, SPLC said the officers informed the families they were, in fact, ICE agents. The residents, who were in the country legally, were then seized for detention and deportation.

"ICE agents preyed upon vulnerable families using fear and lies to improperly enter homes - without cause - and detain people who were legally present in the U.S.," Lisa Graybill, SPLC's deputy legal director, said in a statement.

"The safety of home and the freedom from unlawful searches and seizures are among America's most fundamental values, and law enforcement officials at all levels are legally required to protect these constitutional rights. The anything-goes method of the ICE agents in these raids obliterated due process, tore families apart, and did nothing to enhance national security."

SPLC is asking the court to order the government to pay damages to the families.

SPLC Complaint by blc88 on Scribd