Thread: First arrest made under 'show me your papers' provision

By Martha Maurer
Originally published: Sep 21, 2012 - 6:35 pm
KTAR

Phoenix police have made the agency's first arrest under the so-called "show me your papers" provision of SB 1070.

The arrest happened Tuesday near 24th St. and Jefferson when police stopped a vehicle after it made an illegal turn. Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson said the driver didn't have a driver's license when questioned by police, so the officer contact Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

"There was facts and circumstances that led him to believe that the individual was illegally in the country," he said. "Based upon that, he contacted ICE. ICE interviewed the individual over the phone and the agent told the officer to go ahead and bring them down to ICE for further questioning."

Thompson said ICE also talked to two other passengers over the phone.

The driver is facing two traffic citations.

The vehicle was seized by police.

First arrest made under 'show me your papers' provision - Phoenix News - KTAR.com

Phoenix police: Officer wasn't wrong in ICE arrest

by Daniel González - Sept. 21, 2012 10:20 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

Just days after police began enforcing the "show me your papers" provision of Senate Bill 1070, the Phoenix Police Department is facing an accusation that one of its officers used racial profiling to pull over a car with three Hispanic men who turned out to be in the country illegally.

It is the first allegation of racial profiling leveled against a local law-enforcement agency since a federal judge on Tuesday lifted an injunction allowing the controversial provision to go into effect. That decision followed more than two years of high-profile legal challenges from the U.S. Justice Department and from civil-rights and immigrant groups.

Phoenix police said Friday that they are investigating the incident, which occurred Tuesday, but said that after talking to the officer, they do not believe he did anything wrong.

"We take allegations of misconduct seriously," said Sgt. Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for the Police Department.
Civil-rights and immigrant rights groups have predicted the controversial law will lead to rampant racial profiling by police targeting Latinos based on appearance to look for illegal immigrants in violation of the Constitution. They have vowed to document cases of racial profiling to bring more legal action against the so-called "show me your papers" section of the law, also known as Section 2B.

The provision requires police to make a reasonable attempt to check the legal status of people during traffic stops and other police encounters if they have a reasonable suspicion the person is in the country illegally.

The law explicitly prohibits police from using racial profiling and police agencies have said they have trained officers how to enforce the law without violating the civil rights of Latinos.

At a news conference on Friday, family members accused a Phoenix police officer of racially profiling Arturo Santiago Garcia-Gutierrez, 25, and two passengers on Tuesday just hours after the law went into effect.

Family members said Garcia-Gutierrez is from the state of Michoacan, Mexico, and has been living in Phoenix for about 11 years. They said he works as a cook at a restaurant and has never had a criminal record.

Sisters Alejandra Garcia-Gutierrez, 27, and Maria Isabel Garcia, 32, said their brother was on his way to the Desert Sky Mall in west Phoenix with two friends when the officer pulled them over at 7:04 p.m. near 24th and Jefferson streets.

When the three men refused to answer questions about their legal status, the officer drove them to the processing center of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Central Avenue and turned the three over to ICE agents.

The sisters said their brother, who remains in ICE custody, said he was told by the officer he had been pulled over for running a red light. They said their brother denied running a red light and believes the officer pulled them over because they looked Hispanic.

"He told me, 'The only reason that the officer stopped me was because we looked Hispanic. If we looked Anglo they wouldn't have stopped us,' " Alejandra Garcia-Gutierrez said.

She said the officer asked her brother for his driver's license and when he said he didn't have one, he started asking "Are you legal or illegal?"

She said her brother refused to answer any questions about his legal status.

Thompson, the police spokesman, gave a different account. He said the officer pulled the vehicle over for making an improper turn. He said the driver did not have a driver's license and instead, when the officer asked him for another form of ID, he handed over a Mexican passport.

Thompson said the officer also noted that the driver did not speak English well. The combination of all of those factors gave the officer reasonable suspicion that the driver was in the country illegally, so he called ICE.

Under SB 1070, police are now obligated to call ICE if they have reasonable suspicion someone they encounter during a traffic stop is in the country illegally, Thompson said.

Thompson said the ICE agent interviewed all three on the phone and concluded they were in the country illegally and instructed the Phoenix police officer to bring them to ICE.

Thompson said the driver of the car was cited for a traffic infraction and driving without a license.

Thompson also defended the officer for asking the passengers in the car about their immigration status.

The Comites de Defensa del Barrio, an immigrant and Latino advocacy group, demanded Friday that the Phoenix Police Department investigate the incident.

"Racial profiling is something that is happening," said Salvador Reza, the director of the group.

Amber Cargile, a spokeswoman for ICE in Phoenix, issued a written statement confirming that the three were taken into custody by immigration officers.

She identified them as Garcia-Gutierrez, Martin Esteban-Jimenez and Jose Felipe Reyes. All three were issued notices to appear in front of an immigration judge, she said.

ICE, she said, uses "discretion on a case-by-case basis, taking enforcement action based on the merits of an individual's case and a comprehensive review of specific facts."

Garcia-Gutierrez is being held at a detention facility in Eloy pending the posting of a bond.

Esteban-Jimenez is also being held in Eloy. ICE determined that he had been voluntarily returned to Mexico twice in 2009.

Reyes has been released on his own recognizance, she said. ICE determined that Reyes had been voluntarily returned to Mexico once in 2002.

Read more: Phoenix police: Officer wasn't wrong in ICE arrest

Apparently they were released, not surprising.

Rez said that among the protesters were some of the first arrestees under the new law. He said they were released by federal immigration officials because they had no criminal history and were not considered a priority.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/immigration...9/#post1304616

Releasing illegal aliens, especially, repeat offenders caught making improper turns, running red lights, and driving without a license, on their own recognizance is derelict and ridiculous.

She said her brother refused to answer any questions about his legal status.

Sounds like these guys were following the guidebook for illegals:
http://www.alipac.us/content.php?r=9...-s-Enforcement

So, go on illegals... refuse to answer! This puts you at the top of the deportation list.

Originally Posted by Jean

Apparently they were released, not surprising.



http://www.alipac.us/f12/immigration...9/#post1304616

They just continue to get away with this crap! Enforce the damned laws and send these invaders back!