Thread: ACLU Questions State Trooper Over Illegal Alien Arrest

http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/200 ... tchin.html

August 23, 2006
Officer In Trouble For Catching Illegals
A Rhode Island state trooper who apprehended 14 illegal immigrants during a traffic stop is being investigated at the request of a renowned "civil rights" organization that claims the officer had no right to ask for identification.

During a routine traffic stop in Richmond's Route 95, Trooper Thomas Chabot asked the driver as well as the passengers in a van for identification, a department procedure. When 14 of the passengers could not provide valid identification, the officer called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

As it turns out, the 14 passengers were found by federal authorities to be in the U.S. illegally and now face deportation. This outraged the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an advocate of open borders and rights for illegal immigrants.

The ACLU went so far as to accuse the trooper of "egregious racial profiling" and overstepping his authority by taking immigration enforcement into his own hands. The organization's Rhode Island affiliate filed a complaint this week, forcing the officer to be investigated.

Perhaps the ACLU would prefer that federal immigration officials man checkpoints in every city so that illegals could be detained on the spot by the "appropriate officials," as Common Sense and Wonder points out.

The point, however, is that a local law enforcement officer did his job and now he is under fire. Rhymes With Right asks who, but the ACLU, would oppose a cop who catches lawbreakers and Americans For Legal Immigration reminds us that a state trooper did his job and as a result we have 14 individuals that have no respect for our laws being deported.

"We believe that our van was pulled over, at least in part, because of our ethnicity. As passengers, we also object that we were required to provide identification and asked about our immigration status, even though we had done nothing wrong. We do not think the trooper had any right to force us to go to ICE headquarters. We believe we were treated unfairly."

The arrogance of these illegals is just amazing. Who are they to "object" to anything, especially the checking of identification by a law enforcement officer. Unfortunately, the results of this incident will be that the officer will be reluctant to do his duty where illegals are concerned next time - can we blame him?

This is so infuriating! They know that they are above the law because the law has not been enforced. Of course, when someone tries to enforce the law it must be discrimination or racial profiling. I am so sick of this!
It happens in my community all the time. The judge has thrown out so many cases and actually accused the police of being discriminatory, so now the police do nothing. They say "our hands our tied." What is it going to take?! The Anti-American Commie Leftist Union is always on the wrong side! They are an absolute farse.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo ... cf9f4.html

State police probe clears trooper in traffic stop of van

01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, September 9, 2006

BY KAREN LEE ZINER
Journal Staff Writer


SCITUATE -- An internal state police investigation has cleared Trooper Thomas Chabot of any wrongdoing during a contested July 11 traffic stop on Route 95, Col. Steven M. Pare announced during a news conference yesterday.

The stop of a van-- for failure to signal a lane change -- ended with deportation notices against the driver and his 13 passengers, who are all illegal Guatemalan immigrants.

Trooper Chabot "acted professionally and appropriately in this traffic stop," including his seeking involvement by federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Pare said.

In Chabot's six years on the force, "we have not had any complaints against this trooper," Pare said. "He's a good trooper."

Allegations brought by the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the vehicle's occupants prompted the investigation, conducted by Inspector Elwood M. Johnson Jr. of the professional-standards unit.

The ACLU alleges that Chabot engaged in racial profiling when he stopped a van full of Hispanics; exceeded his authority by taking immigration enforcement into his own hands; and that he threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape the van as it was escorted from Richmond to the Providence ICE office.

Pare said Chabot denied making any such threat, and said an in-car videotape that was key evidence in the investigation supports Chabot's statement.

But Pare disclosed for the first time yesterday that "the entire stop was not filmed." He called it accidental, and said the tape simply ran out.

In fact, a letter from Inspector Johnson to the ACLU revealed that the video captured only 5 minutes of the 70-minute traffic stop.

Johnson wrote that the videotape "captured the first five minutes of the traffic stop and subsequent interaction. Unfortunately, the trooper was unaware that the tape had reached the end of its footage during the stop, and had stopped recording."

Chabot's report -- which state police furnished to The Journal last month -- states that he stopped the van at 6:30 a.m., and at about 7:40 a.m. -- an hour and 10 minutes later -- the van was escorted to Providence.

ACLU executive director Steven Brown called the investigation results "disappointing for many reasons, but perhaps most prominently because the results leave unanswered some of the most important questions about the stop."

That includes "why this particular vehicle of the literally hundreds that probably did not put on a turn signal at around the same time, was singled out for a stop," Brown said.

Nor do the findings explain "why the trooper felt it necessary to demand identification from the passengers after the drivers' license and registration checked out properly . . . or why the trooper felt the need to investigate the immigration status of these individuals, when only two weeks ago a state police representative told the community that they weren't in the business of enforcing immigration law," Brown said.

(State police Lt. John T. LaFreniere told nearly 200 people at a public forum on July 27 that the state police "have not been deputized to enforce any immigration laws." Two advocacy groups held the forum to start a dialogue between state and Providence police and the immigrant community).

Brown also questioned why Ramon Martinez, new director of the immigrant advocacy group Progreso Latino, was allowed to view the videotape.

Martinez confirmed that at the news conference, where he joined Pare and other state police officials and troopers.

"I question why an individual who had absolutely no connection to the stop and no connection to the state police, was allowed to see the tape," Brown said. "We filed the complaint on behalf of these individuals and were denied access to it."

Pare said Martinez was allowed to see the tape because he "reached out to us" as a potential liaison to ease the "chilling effect" felt by the Latino community since the traffic stop. The tape "is not a public document," Pare said, and it will not be released to the media or anyone else.

Brown said he would meet with the complainants to determine what further steps should be taken, up to or including a lawsuit.

Pare's statements conflicted on at least one significant score with Chabot's report, and Johnson's letter to the ACLU. In particular, Pare insisted that Chabot did not ask the van passengers for immigration documents.

"He did not. He did not," Pare said. "He asked for identification. They never were asked [for immigration documents.] The immediate question was ID, and not 'ID here -- legally or not.' "

But Chabot's report states that when all but two passengers were unable to produce ID, Chabot then asked "if any of them had immigration credentials proving their U.S. citizenship." Johnson's letter echoes that.

Pare also defended Chabot against allegations of racial profiling. He said the van windows "were cloudy," and Chabot couldn't tell "whether it was 1 person or 14 in the van," let alone their ethnicity.

Meanwhile, Governor Carcieri said he was pleased "that a thorough review of this incident by the state police has determined that the actions taken by Trooper Chabot were entirely appropriate."

"While state law-enforcement officials are not tasked with enforcing federal immigration law, the state police cannot be asked to turn a blind eye when they encounter illegal activities." Carcieri called it 'entirely appropriate for state troopers to refer obvious violations of federal immigration laws to federal officials."

Only three states and several municipalities nationwide have deputized their troopers or officers to enforce immigration law.

Pare said Rhode Island has no such agreement. He said he would be conferring with federal authorities on his troopers' authority in these matters in the coming months.

kziner@projo.com / (401) 277-7375.

I wish I could say what I am thinking...everytime I read of these anti-American low-lifes and their frivilous meddling and law suits against decent law-abiding people and entities, I just want to throw up....on them!

They (ACLU) conveniently ignore INA 287(g) and the second half of the 14th Amendment. Plus, their day is coming. They are facing the possibility of losing that taxpayer money they've been getting.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?nam...wtopic&t=40512

Any idea if all 14 illegals were in seats and belted in? They're often stacked like cord wood and nobody has a seat belt. This alone would be probable cause to ask everyone in the vehicle for an ID. The ACLU's complaint should be thrown out if it reaches a logical judge. The ACLU's plan of action is to aggravate and agitate as much as possible. They'll make this attempt at every corner, just to take up time and resources even if they suspect it won't stick.

http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/pu ... 8479.shtml

Judicial Watch Letter Backs Rhode Island State Trooper’s Immigration Arrest

I want to call your attention to a letter sent by my colleague Paul Orfanedes a few weeks back to the Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police responding to a complaint filed by the ACLU. Paul Orfanedes is Judicial Watch’s Director of Litigation and has developed quite an expertise on certain aspects of immigration law. The ACLU complaint was filed against State Trooper Thomas Chabot, alleging that he had acted improperly during a July 2006 traffic stop in Richmond, Rhode Island. The ACLU charged the officer with racial profiling and overstepping the bounds of his authority in his attempt to enforce immigration law.

According to an article by the Providence Journal, on July 11, 2006 at 6:30 am, Trooper Chabot pulled over a 14-passenger van for changing lanes without a signal. He then requested “immigration credentials proving [the passengers’] U.S. citizenship.” None of the passengers had documentation, and Trooper Chabot took the detainees to ICE headquarters in Providence. The 14 passengers were found to be in the country illegally and are being processed for deportation.

The Judicial Watch letter noted federal immigration law supporting the state trooper’s actions. Federal immigration laws make it a crime for any person to transport certain classes of illegal aliens and that any law enforcement officer has the authority to enforce criminal law. The letter also pointed out that no entity can lawfully prevent an officer of the law from communicating with ICE regarding the presence of illegal aliens.

So with the law on his side, why is there any question about Trooper Chabot’s actions?

This is just another example of the ACLU trying to protect those who have entered the country illegally. I alerted you earlier this week that the ACLU – specifically, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California – is asking a California court to let its illegal immigrant clients and others “intervene” in our lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) over Special Order 40. ACLU lawyers are representing pro-illegal immigration groups and illegal immigrants in opposition to our lawsuit to force the LAPD to drop its politically correct “sanctuary” policy.

Judicial Watch believes our immigration laws must be enforced, not ignored, and we are fighting on multiple fronts to preserve the sanctity of our borders and of U.S. citizenship. Law enforcement officers such as State Trooper Chabot should be lauded, not attacked.

To read Judicial Watch’s letter, go to http://www.judicialwatch.org/archive/20 ... Letter.pdf

Tom Fitton is the President of Judicial Watch, Inc., a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

I am beginning to think that the ACLU is trying to be the "secret police" of the left.

This is just another example of the ACLU trying to protect those who have entered the country illegally.

The ACLU seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that they are working toward their own demise. The ACLU exists to uphold our civil liberties spelled out in the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. By supporting illegal aliens and interfering with our laws to control immigration, they are actively pushing us toward the North American Union, at which time we will be governed by a "North American Parliament." No more US sovereignty, no more Constitution, no more Bill of Rights, no more civil rights, no need for the ACLU.