African Woman, Jailed and Strip-searched, Wins $65,000 Settlement

In January of 2002, Tsungai Tungwarara, then 18 years old, flew from her native country, Zimbabwe, to San Francisco to visit her family in the Bay Area. Despite having a valid tourist visa, Ms. Tungwarara was jailed by airport immigration agents and subjected to a strip search.

She was taken to a local jail facility in violation of a Sept. 29, 2000, Department of Justice policy memorandum, which declares that jail is “not appropriate in non-criminal cases.” When Ms. Tungwarara’s mother tried to intervene, an immigration inspector told her, “We won’t allow these people here – not after Sept. 11. Go back to the jungle.” The next day, immigration agents forced Ms. Tungwarara to return to Zimbabwe.

In June 2004, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and the law firm of Farella, Braun and Martel filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of Ms. Tungwarara. In October 2005, the federal district court issued a precedent-setting decision in the case, ruling that the strip search was unconstitutional. The case was scheduled for trial in April 2006, but the federal government agreed to settle the case.

Philip Hwang, staff attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, said reports of abuse at airports and borders have been on the rise since 9/11. “Low-level immigration agents are making life-altering decisions about who is sent to jail, who will be strip-searched and who will be deported. But, there is no meaningful oversight of these decisions,” Hwang said.

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