Senate panel on racial profiling discusses Alabama immigration law
Senate panel on racial profiling discusses Alabama immigration law
Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 6:00 AM
By Mary Orndorff -- The Birmingham News
Senate panel on racial profiling discusses Alabama immigration law
Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 6:00 AM
WASHINGTON -- Congressional critics of Alabama's immigration law said Tuesday it is a recipe for racial profiling because it encourages law enforcement to help the federal government locate and deport illegal immigrants.
A Senate panel, for the first time in 11 years, held a hearing on how to prevent police from targeting suspects based solely on their race, religion or nationality. The debate was largely over how to conduct investigations into national security, border security and street crimes without violating civil liberties.
Alabama's immigration law, which requires local law enforcement personnel to check immigration status if they have a reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally, was mentioned by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill.
"Profiling Hispanics and immigrants is the most efficient way to get someone deported," said Gutierrez, who is also a critic of similar laws in South Carolina and Arizona. Under Alabama's law, anyone who cannot prove legal status can be detained and referred to federal immigration officials for deportation.
The Tuesday hearing was before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, which is chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. He and Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., are promoting legislation to collect data on racial profiling, train officers how to avoid it, and require state and local law enforcement agencies to have strong policies against it in order to qualify for federal funds.
Two witnesses from within the law enforcement community were divided Tuesday. The police chief of East Palo Alto, Calif., said law enforcement should welcome the data collection as a way to defend their work and hold themselves accountable. But a top official with the Fraternal Order of Police complained the proposed law presumes that police act with racist intent.
"It is clear that racism is morally and ethically wrong, and in law enforcement it serves no valid purpose, but it is equally wrong to think that a person is racist just because he wears a uniform and a badge," said Frank Gale, the national second vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police. He opposed Cardin's legislation.
Evidence of racial profiling under Alabama's immigration law is anecdotal. Opponents say they've received complaints from Latinos about being pulled over with no allegation of a traffic violation and that the law actually invites profiling suspected illegal immigrants based on their accent, English-speaking skills or appearance.
"The vast majority of law enforcement officers perform their jobs honorably and courageously, putting their lives at risk to protect the communities they serve," Durbin said. "But the inappropriate actions of the few who engage in racial profiling create mistrust and suspicion that hurt all police officers."
Supporters of Alabama's law, however, say racial profiling is already prohibited and that law enforcement officers are being trained to help enforce the immigration law without basing their suspicions of immigration status solely on ethnicity.
A committee of the Alabama Legislature on Tuesday voted to change the section of the law to say that the officer can only inquire about immigration status if issuing a traffic citation or making an arrest, not just on any traffic stop. The revision, however, expands the inquiry to other people in the car, which opponents say only increases the chances of profiling.
