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Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said Wednesday that two of his deputies did not violate the civil rights of a Frederick woman last year when they arrested her on immigration charges.

He said the deputies had probable cause to question and arrest Roxana Orellana Santos on Oct. 7, 2008, and he refuted the charges spelled out in a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf against him and others on Tuesday by pro-immigration groups.

"This was nothing but good police work," said Jenkins (R). "My men did absolutely nothing wrong."

Lawyers for LatinoJustice PRLDEF in New York, Casa of Maryland in Silver Spring, as well as lawyers from Nixon Peabody, a Washington, D.C. law firm, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, then held a press conference on the steps of the federal courthouse.

"The Frederick County Sheriff's Office is engaging in discriminatory practices, targeting individuals based on their race and ethnicity," said Jose Perez, associate counsel with LatinoJustice, at the press conference.

Jenkins disputed the accusations, and said his deputies, who are still active on the force, did not target Orellana Santos because of her race.

Jenkins said the deputies were doing a routine check of the area behind Gold's Gym in Evergreen Square on Buckeystown Pike when they noticed Orellana Santos sitting on the curb eating lunch.

He said she jumped up and ran behind a storage container after seeing the deputies, who followed her and asked her for identification. One of the deputies ran her identification — Jenkins said he did not know what type of ID it was — through a database in their patrol car to see if she had any outstanding arrest warrants.

Jenkins said that is normal procedure for anyone stopped by police.

Information from the database showed an outstanding arrest warrant for Orellana Santos from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to appear in court, Jenkins said.

Orellana Santos was previously arrested by U.S. border patrol officers, and due to appear before an immigration judge. She failed to appear, which led ICE to issue a deportation warrant for her arrest, Jenkins said.

Orellana Santos was arrested by the two deputies, taken to the Frederick County Detention Center, and turned over to ICE.

Jenkins said he does not know what happened to her after she ICE picked her up.

Calls to CASA, LatinoJustice and Nixon Peabody for their reaction to Jenkins' account were not immediately returned Wednesday.

But their account of Orellana Santos's arrest differs from Jenkins'.

The lawsuit alleges that Orellana Santos was sitting on a curb eating a sandwich on her lunch break when two deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office approached her and questioned her immigration status.

The suit states that when the two deputies approached Orellana Santos, one asked for her identification. She told the deputy that she did not have any with her.

One of the deputies then asked for her passport. Orellana Santos told the deputy that her passport was at home, court papers state. The two deputies continued to stand over Orellana Santos, watching her and talking to each other.

After a few minutes, she remembered she had a national identification card from El Salvador, where she is from, in her purse. She showed it the deputies, the lawsuit states, then one of the deputies placed a call on his radio.

After 15 minutes, Orellana Santos tried to stand up, but a deputy put his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from leaving. She was then handcuffed and placed in the backseat of the cruiser, the suit states.

She was transported to the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, where she was detained for one night and then transported to the Baltimore Detention Center.

Two days later, she was transported to the Dorchester County Jail in Cambridge. On Nov. 11, she was granted supervised release for humanitarian concerns, the suit states.

Jenkins is not surprised by the lawsuit, saying that CASA of Maryland has always been a critic of his office's participation in the federal 287g program, which enables some of his deputies to check the immigration status of people they arrest.

Jenkins said the two officers involved in the arrest of Orellana Santos were not part of the 287g program.

The lawsuit names Jeffrey Openshaw as one of the deputies who approached Orellana Santos. Lawyers said Tuesday they do not know the name of the second deputy; he is called "John Doe" in the suit. Openshaw did not return a voicemail for comment. Jenkins declined name the second deputy, but did say he was new to the force at the time of the arrest.

The lawsuit is also against the Frederick Board of County Commissioners and current and former Immigration and two ICE agents. They include Julie Myers, former assistant secretary; Calvin McCormick, field office director with the Office of Detention and Removal in Baltimore; and James A. Dinkins, special agent in charge of the Office of Investigations in Baltimore.

The suit states Jenkins went beyond the department's 287g agreement with ICE, and the actions of the sheriff's office were discriminatory and unlawful.

Deputies have been checking the immigration status of every person arrested in Frederick County since April 2008 as part of the federal 287g program.

The lawsuit names the Frederick County commissioners because they provide funding for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office, the suit states.

Frederick County Attorney John Mathias said Tuesday he had yet to receive a copy of the lawsuit, and declined to comment.

Under the 287g program, the immigration status of everyone arrested is checked by specially trained deputies at the Frederick County Detention Center. If a person is found to be in the country illegally, deputies notify ICE, which can begin the deportation proceedings.

Perez, associate counsel with LatinoJustice, refused to say whether Orellana Santos was living in the country legally.

The lawsuit alleges the actions of the sheriff's deputies violated Orellana's rights established under the 1964 Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourth and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

"Frederick County is the center of injustice, where things have happened to a very large immigrant community," said Kerry O'Brien, Casa's director of services. "It's just not right that Sheriff Jenkins has taken it upon himself to rid the community of these people."

The complaint alleges Orellana Santos spent weeks in the custody of ICE before being released.

She is seeking a jury trial and compensatory damages of not less than $1 million.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of new 287g guidelines ICE developed to address concerns that some police agencies participating in the program engage in racial profiling. Under the new guidelines, ICE has developed three levels of priority for deporting illegal immigrants who commit certain crimes.

Level 1 priority will go to those who have been arrested or convicted of committing major drug offenses or violent crimes such as murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery or kidnapping.

Level 2 priority will go to minor drug offenses and other crimes such as burglary, larceny, fraud and money laundering. Level 3 is all other offenses.