Police not allowed to ask citizenship

[JB73]

according to departmental policies asked for by a immigration rights leader


http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=671905

Police urged not to check legal status
Activists want immigration standing off-limits in stops; some chiefs agree
By SCOTT WILLIAMS
swilliams@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Oct. 7, 2007

Christine Neumann-Ortiz had heard enough stories about immigrants facing deportation after traffic stops or random encounters with police, so the immigrant rights leader went right to the source of concern.
Policy: Milwaukee Police Department's new policy on immigration enforcement
Web site: Voces de la Frontera


Neumann-Ortiz is asking local police departments for new policies to prevent officers from questioning people about their immigration status during unrelated investigations.

Some departments are going along.

A policy Milwaukee police officials adopted recently prohibits officers from asking immigration questions or alerting federal authorities to suspected illegal immigrants, with some exceptions.

Neumann-Ortiz's group, Voces de la Frontera, is asking other departments to follow suit, suggesting that enforcing federal immigration rules not only distracts police from investigating local crime but also drives a wedge between law enforcement and minorities.

"It creates kind of a poisonous culture," she said.

Others object to her view, saying that illegal immigration is too big a problem for any law enforcement agency to abdicate its role.

Racine Ald. Greg Helding said his community, for one, has no intention of adopting the policy sought by Voces de la Frontera. "It's just not going to happen," he said.

Helding questioned whether requiring police officers not to enforce certain laws would be legal. He said he would rather see Racine ask the federal government for special police authority to pursue immigration cases and start deportation proceedings.

Waukesha County considered seeking that special authority earlier this year, but officials dropped the matter after community leaders privately raised concerns about a potential police crackdown.

Anselmo Villarreal, executive director of the Waukesha agency La Casa de Esperanza, said that although he does not plan to pursue a hands-off-immigration policy with police, he warned authorities earlier that equipping officers with special immigration power would jeopardize good relations with the minority community.

"I truly believe that's not the solution. It's just going to create more problems," Villarreal said.

As illegal immigration has grown into a national issue the past couple of years, stepped-up enforcement efforts have produced deportation stories that rankled immigrant rights groups.

In 2004, a Waukesha County mother of two was sent back to India after she got a flat tire and police officers discovered that she had entered the United States illegally 12 years earlier.

Neumann-Ortiz recounted a situation in Illinois where a man was murdered and his grieving family was questioned at the murder scene about their immigration status.

Illegal immigration is generally treated as a civil offense - not a crime - and enforcement historically has been handled by the federal government with little local police involvement.

Milwaukee-based Voces de la Frontera decided to pursue a hands-off policy with area police departments after a police raid at a Whitewater factory where 25 illegal immigrants from Mexico were arrested in August 2006.

The Whitewater Police Department was one of the first departments to change its policies.

Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan said he agreed to stop collecting Social Security numbers from traffic offenders and others because of concerns in the minority community that such information was used to trace immigration records. Not having Social Security numbers sometimes can make other police work more difficult, Coan said.

"It was a tradeoff that we were willing to make," he said. "It's a very polarizing issue - no question about that."

Milwaukee police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz released a copy of her department's policy and confirmed that it was updated in April, but she declined to comment further.

According to the policy, Milwaukee officers can question a person's immigration status or alert federal authorities only in cases of violent crimes, suspected terrorism, street gang crimes or other limited cases.

Neumann-Ortiz acknowledged that public sentiment in many circles favors tougher enforcement of immigration laws, and said federal reform is needed so that the nation has fewer illegal immigrants.

Yet the current push for local enforcement, she said, has created an environment in which Hispanics and other minorities are being subjected to racial profiling. She said her group's efforts to promote hands-off policies will defuse the situation.

"It really is about a separation of roles," she said. "It has become a new kind of battle front."

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I am sorry but what a LOAD OF CRAP.

"It creates kind of a poisonous culture,"

yeah that what ILLEGAL Immigrants are doing to America you dumb b#$%^




this story just makes me irate... Not just irate, but embarrassed to live in WI and near Milwaukee.

[FrodeMk3]

If I were the Mayor of Milwaulkee, I would tell the M.P.D. that they can expect a cut in pay-If they aren't gonna enforce all the laws, then they aren't gonna get all the dough.

This was my favorite line out of the whole thing:

Anselmo Villarreal, executive director of the Waukesha agency La Casa de Esperanza, said that although he does not plan to pursue a hands-off-immigration policy with police, he warned authorities earlier that equipping officers with special immigration power would jeopardize good relations with the minority community.

Jeopardize away. Please.

[nirvana]

Waste time?  They already have the person pulled over, it's just a little extra paperwork to ship 'em back.

[RedTop]

There is so much racial B.S. in that story that it makes me sick.

[Chairboy]

Let's disconnect this from illegal immigration for a second.

If you were walking down the street and a police officer stopped you (Caucasian you) and said "Your papers", expecting you to produce your passport or birth certificate, would you be ok with that?

[storch]

no chairboy I would not.  something like that did occur to me at a home depot parking lot in homestead and I was almost arrested.  the police here are not allowed to ask people for their IDs unless they commit a traffic violation.  the people who detained me at the home depot were INS and they took a very long time to verify my docs.

[Ocean27]

Wow storch. Sounds like you're living in a police state. I doubt if the same kind of stop would occur even in a monarchy.

[x0847Marine]

LAPDs "Special order 40" is pretty much a standard policy for many police / Sheriff depts. Its worse than just not asking, its against dept policy to take ANY immigration action what-so-ever. I've had many a "title 8" (or 'ocho' ) brag they were here illegally, they know all to well the local policia are powerless re: immigration.

How do they know?, the Mexican .gov and / or folks like MALDEF print fliers and give out business card sized cards full of Special order 40 like info to make the average illegals stay in the US more enjoyable.

Heres an article on order 40:
http://www.judicialwatch.org/so40.shtml

[storch]

it sure felt like it that day.  they were looking for illegals but the illegals probably knew before the INS agents knew and consequently none were there.  I was a target of opportunity for a bored idiot.

[M36]

For me there wasnt really a need to ask. Figuring it out was easy when the driver did not speak English and/or presented the standard fake mexican drivers license. Then, Border Patrol was called, they took over and took them away. I didnt have to ask them anything about their nationality. However, a squaddie of mine whose jurisdiction is in the NE, does not have access to Border Patrol officers to the extent that they are available in the SW. Without BP available, the only option is to let them go whether you know they are illegal or not.

[Chairboy]

If they have a fake license like you mentioned, they can be arrested for that, right?  

Might want to update your procedures, heh.

[Xargos]

All illegals should be hung as spies.

[Mr No Name]

Looks like the people are just going to have to take this whole problem into their own hands... Where do I sign up?

[M36]

If they have a fake license like you mentioned, they can be arrested for that, right?

Yes, it's called a law, not a procedure. There is a difference.

[Chairboy]

Originally posted by M36
For me there wasnt really a need to ask. Figuring it out was easy when the driver did not speak English and/or presented the standard fake mexican drivers license.

Originally posted by M36
Without BP available, the only option is to let them go whether you know they are illegal or not.

If they presented a fake license, why would border patrol be needed?  This is the point you haven't answered, M36.