Thread: Anatomy of a roundup

Anatomy of a roundup
By DENNIS WELCH TRIBUNE
East Valley Tribune
Updated: 3:49 a.m. MT Aug 19, 2007
A decade ago, federal immigration agents and Chandler police officers swept through downtown neighborhoods looking to arrest and deport illegal aliens. The five-day period from July 27 to July 31, remembered now as the Chandler roundup, has become one of the darkest chapters in the city's history. It still reverberates through the city's social and political landscape today.

Details of the roundup have mushroomed over time into urban legend. Beatings by police. Initimidation. Threats.

By the time the week ended, 432 illegal immigrants were arrested and later deported. And in the most controversial aspect, hundreds more were stopped - including U.S. citizens and legal residents.

The operation and civil rights violations sparked a public outrage and created a public mistrust and a tension between the city and its large Hispanic community - a tension that would take years to relax.

"I think it's a lot better today and I know that would never happen again," said Matt Orlando, one of three current Chandler council members who also sat on the council 10 years ago.

The ill-fated operation began July 27, 1997, when Chandler police and federal border agents descended on a small section of downtown Chandler. Within the first three hours, authorities had arrested 75 illegal immigrants.

In the days that followed, the operation expanded to cover eight square blocks or one square mile that included some of the city's oldest and predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods.

Police targeted anyone who looked Hispanic and spoke Spanish. In many cases they stopped people with no probable cause. In fact, some patrol officers followed drivers through the city looking for the smallest traffic violation to pull them over and question their residency status.

As Orlando recalls it, the council received little warning about the operation. It wasn't until the day before the roundup began that then-Chandler police Chief Bobby Joe Harris called Orlando and other City Council members to tell them about the joint operation.

An investigation would later show that city officials OK'd the operation with less than two minutes of discussion with the police chief and without specific details relating to the scope of it.

The roundup wasn't the first time Chandler and federal border agents had conducted joint missions, so word of the operation didn't raise a red flag. The two agencies had teamed up twice that year on operations that were much narrower in scope.

And, at the time of the proposed roundup, city officials claimed they were receiving a lot of complaints about crime related to illegal immigrants and day laborers hanging out downtown.

Because of the complaints and the prior history, Orlando and other city leaders at the time didn't think much about the sweep. But it soon became very apparent it was getting out of hand.

"I started getting phone calls from angry citizens and then media reports started coming out," said Orlando.

News of the roundup quickly spread, creating a toxic atmosphere among downtown Hispanic residents. Mounting tensions and public pressure eventually prompted Chandler police to hold a city meeting to assuage any concerns. But in many cases, it fueled the growing political and racial fire.

Stephen Montoya, a Hispanic civil-rights attorney, said many citizens who attended the meeting were offended by the attitude of its police force. "They were basically saying that Chandler police had the right to stop anyone and question them," he said.

Montoya would later represent 28 plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Chandler police violated their civil rights. He sued for $35 million in damages, as he puts it, "to get their attention."

He also contended that local police did not have the authority to enforce federal immigration laws. According to federal law at the time, local police could only enforce immigration laws if they had an agreement with the U.S. Attorney General. Now, local police departments need authority from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In the summer of 1997, there was no agreement between the city and the federal government. Adding to the problems, local officers had received no formal training on federal immigration laws which lead some officers stop U.S. citizens and legal residents with no probable cause.

The city eventually settled the suit with Montoya and his clients for $400,000. More importantly, according to Montoya, Chandler agreed never to enforce federal immigration law as part of the settlement.

In addition to the lawsuit, an audit by then-State Attorney General Grant Woods found there were civil rights violations and that the city acted improperly. The 34-page report also accused authorities of stopping people based on skin color and accused police and federal agents of breaking into the homes and businesses without warrants. There were also accusations they intimidated citizens to get results.

Other reports would find wrongdoing, including one by the federal border patrol which cited the Chandler incident as reason for broad changes to the department. Additionally, police chief Harris was formally rebuked by the council for improperly supervising the roundup.

Yet, a Chandler police investigation a year later found that police did little wrong. That report angered many residents who were caught up in the incident.

"The city was flat wrong," said Councilmember Martin Sepulveda, who also sat on the council 10 years ago. "It conducted a rogue operation. We did something wrong and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

But just how did so much go wrong? One theory blames the police department's small-town mentality. During the late 1990s, the city was still in the midst of a population explosion. In the 10 years leading up to the roundup -- 1987 to 1997 -- the population grew from 78,000 to 152,000.

Unfortunately, Sepulveda said, the mindset of the department didn't change fast enough to keep up with the growing population.

"Chandler was still a Wild West redneck town 10 years ago," he said. "I don't think what happened then would happen now because we're a much more progressive community."

Even today, no one is sure why the police and federal agents moved so aggressively through downtown Chandler.

Athough the city claimed there were complaints about crime related to illegal immigration, no documents backing up those claims were found. At the time of the roundup, some city leaders like councilman Sepulveda charged the operation was motivated by racism - an accusation he still maintains today.

Yet others contend the roundup was part of the city's plans to redevelop the downtown. At the time of the roundup, the city was in the middle of a downtown revitalization process.

"Of course the two are connected," Montoya said during a recent interview. Ridding the downtown of illegal immigrants would make it easier for to attract developers and news businesses. But, Montoya said, the ends do not justify the means.

Sen. Jay Tibshraeny, R-Chandler, then Chandler's mayor, sharply disagrees that downtown redevelopment plans played any role in prompting the roundup.

"I've never heard that and that's not the case," said Tibshraeny, who has said he may run for another term as Chandler mayor.

Since then, the city has created a human relations commission to look for ways the city could highlight its diversity. The city hosts a number of events throughout the year designed to celebrate various ethnic heritages.

Yet, the Chandler roundup still affects the political psychology of the city. From attempts to deal with rising gang violence to downtown development, the city's history still looms large.

"It's made us gun-shy, especially on anything having to do with illegal immigration," said Sepulveda.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20343094/

"Chandler was still a Wild West redneck town 10 years ago," he said. "I don't think what happened then would happen now because we're a much more progressive community."

Translated... the invasion has had time to create enough anchor babies and now since the majority of the population is Hispanic and illegal and NOT made up of true US citizens, this would never happen now...

Yet, the Chandler roundup still affects the political psychology of the city. From attempts to deal with rising gang violence to downtown development, the city's history still looms large.

"It's made us gun-shy, especially on anything having to do with illegal immigration," said Sepulveda.

Of course THAT is what the illegals and their supporters want - To blunt any anti-illegal drives through using the racism and 'no profiling', 'breach of civil liberties' HAMMER

I just wonder how many of these laws giving us our Civil liberties will be used AGAINST us such that eventually our civil liberties will be TOTALY DESTROYED through the INVASION.

That is exactly what we need.....roundups!!!!

We are going to "nice" ourselves out of existence.