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  1. #1
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    Advocates: Police target immigrants

    http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo ... 0864a.html


    Advocates: Police target immigrants

    A state trooper stopped a van with illegal immigrants on their way to work, then had the van follow his cruiser to immigration authorities in Providence.

    01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, August 3, 2006

    BY KAREN LEE ZINER
    Journal Staff Writer

    PROVIDENCE -- For the second time in a month, advocacy groups have alleged that the police are acting as immigration agents without having that authority. This time, the allegations are against the Rhode Island State Police.

    The complaint centers on a 6:30 a.m. traffic stop on July 11 in Richmond that ended with 14 people -- who were all riding in the same van -- being ushered to the Providence office of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

    Though the 14 were booked and fingerprinted at the federal ICE office and required to sign agreements to face deportation hearings, "neither state police nor immigration officials read us our rights," said Wendy Cabrera, one of six people who spoke at a news conference yesterday.

    Cabrera also said no one was told they were under arrest, even though the men were handcuffed and chained at the ankles at the ICE office.

    Carlos Tamuc, the driver, said the trooper stopped him "because I failed to put my blinker on" while changing lanes on Route 95 southbound, near Exit 3. Tamuc said he was driving everyone to work at a Westerly jewelry plant.

    "The officer asked me for my license and I gave it to him," said Tamuc. "He asked for everyone's ID in the van. Some of them had it and some didn't."

    The trooper then asked Tamuc to show a green card. When Tamuc and the other workers could not do so -- they admitted last night that they are here illegally from Guatemala -- the trooper ordered Tamuc to follow the cruiser to the ICE office on Dyer Street in Providence.

    "He proceeded to tell me that it was my responsibility to make sure nobody escapes. I said, 'How can I do that? It's not my responsibility.' He said, 'If someone escapes, they're gonna die.' "

    The news conference at St. Teresa Church in Olneyville was sponsored by a coalition of community groups, several of which brought similar allegations of maltreatment by ICE agents and Newport police this summer.

    The groups include the Immigrants in Action Committee of St. Teresa Church, the Guatemalan-American Alliance, the Rhode Island Mexican-American Association, Guatemalans United, and Jobs with Justice, among others.

    Organizers said the state police had been invited to attend. But Maj. Steven G. O'Donnell, the department's spokesman, said yesterday, "We are not going to attend, and we are not going to get involved until they come to us."

    O'Donnell said no one had filed a complaint alleging mistreatment about such an incident on that date, and absent that, "we're not going to comment." He did say that any complaint will be taken seriously, and investigated.

    O'Donnell could not be reached last night after more details were released at the news conference.

    Gilfredo Camellar, 1 of the 14 people in the van, said he heard the trooper tell Tamuc "that if someone tried to escape from the van bad things would happen, and he would shoot them."

    Tamuc said ICE agents detained 1 of the 14 people because he had a pending deportation hearing; the others signed agreements to attend hearings before an immigration judge that may end in their deportation. Tamuc also received a $75 ticket, which he had with him, for his driving infraction.

    Last month, the Immigrants in Action Committee and the Guatemalan-American Alliance raised allegations that ICE agents and Newport police officers harassed legal immigrants in their homes during unannounced "visits" in June.

    The Police Department has since launched an internal investigation and taken steps to improve relations with the local immigrant community.

    Juan Garcia, the Immigrations in Action Committee's head coordinator, said the latest allegations point to a trend, "not only by local police but by state police." Garcia said that while the allegations surrounding the Richmond traffic stop are unproven so far, "they need to be investigated."

    The Rhode Island incidents also underscore concerns raised by civil rights and advocacy groups nationwide of police officers acting as immigration agents without authority, even as a handful of states have struck agreements with ICE to vest municipal and state police with those powers.

    Massachusetts Governor Romney is seeking such an agreement. Massachusetts State Police Lt. Sharon Costine said yesterday, "We are in the preliminary stages of working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement" on such a plan, "based on the governor's request" in June.

    Costine said the state police are consulting authorities in Alabama, Arizona and California, where such agreements are already in place.

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts criticized the governor's proposal after it was reported by the Boston media.

    "Our concern is that when the police are turned into basically, federal immigration authorities, it undermines effective law enforcement," said Carol Rose, executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU.

    Rose suggested such a practice would divert scarce law enforcement resources into bureaucratic enforcement; increase the likelihood of racial profiling that would lead the police to stop people "based on appearance," and would intimidate immigrants from reporting crimes against themselves or others.

    Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, raised similar concerns after last month's allegations against Newport police and ICE agents.

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


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  2. #2
    Senior Member sippy's Avatar
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    The groups include the Immigrants in Action Committee of St. Teresa Church, the Guatemalan-American Alliance, the Rhode Island Mexican-American Association, Guatemalans United, and Jobs with Justice, among others.
    It outrages me to see all of these pro illegal immigrant support groups are alive in this country.
    I swear, everytime I read an article where one of these agencies get involved because their "rights" are being violated, its a different group name each time!

    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. " Albert Einstein.

  3. #3

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    Funny thing is they have no rights as they are not legal citizens. I am so sick of hearing about their rights! What about the rights of legal law abiding American citizens
    "What part of illegal don't you understand?"

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