Thread: ICE agent's request to question Bexar jail visitors not auth

ICE agent's request to question Bexar jail visitors not authorized

By Jason Buch

June 7, 2011

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say a proposal to question visitors at Bexar County Jail about their immigration status came from an agent who wasn't authorized to conduct such an operation and that the agent was acting on information from a sheriff's deputy.

An ICE agent sent an email to the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in March asking for permission to station two to four ICE agents in the jail lobby to check the immigration status of inmates' visitors. Agents had seen visitors with foreign ID cards and fake and expired immigration cards, he wrote.

The Sheriff's Office responded with a short email saying ICE could not operate in the lobby.

The county already takes part in Secure Communities, which runs the fingerprints of those arrested through a federal database and alerts ICE if there's a record of the person being in the country illegally. ICE agents also regularly interview inmates, looking for illegal immigrants.

Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said his office turned down the request over concerns that it would violate visitors' civil rights and could scare off some visitors.

“It's a public building and people have a right to come in, and to ask these individuals for ID is beyond the scope of what constitutes reasonable suspicion to stop somebody and have them prove their residency,â€

Wish ICE would want to expand out here in california. They'd be real busy out here and wouldn't have to fake their numbers for the president!

This kind of explains San Antonio's status as a sanctuary city.