Thread: AZ: Arrested migrants urged to be silent

Arrested migrants urged to be silent
Advocates insist they're not trying to beat system
Daniel González
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 24, 2008 12:00 AM

Community groups are responding to a controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants with a controversial plan of their own: They are giving undocumented people advice on how to avoid being deported.

Immigration advocates say they are simply trying to protect the rights of illegal immigrants, not teach them how to beat the system.

Critics say the advice amounts to helping people who have broken the law.



"It shows blatant contempt for the rule of law in this country and blatant contempt for local police working with federal authorities to clean up this mess," said Chris Simcox, president of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a civilian border-watch group.

The crackdown, led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, has thousands of immigrants, both legal and illegal, flocking to forums held monthly by at least three pro-immigrant community groups that are giving advice on how to avoid getting de- ported.

The advice most emphasized: Remain silent.

Evelyn Cruz, who heads the immigration clinic at Arizona State University's law school, said the U.S. Constitution guarantees certain rights to everyone, regardless of legal status, including the right to remain silent.

Making sure immigrants are aware so their rights aren't violated helps protect those rights for everyone, she said.

Cruz said silence, however, does not guarantee that a person will not be arrested. And police could still try to determine legal status during the booking process.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a legal group in Washington, D.C., that advocates enforcement by police of federal im- migration laws, doesn't like the community groups' approach, even though he agrees it is within their rights.


'Stirring the pot'


"These groups would be better served by encouraging their illegal-alien market to come into compliance with federal immigration laws by either leaving the country or by taking other steps available under the law to obtain legal status," Fitton said.

"Stirring the pot is a dangerous route. Civic-minded organizations should generally be encouraging cooperation with the police."

Immigrant advocates say the advice is working.

"It's preventing people from being deported because they know their rights now and they remain silent," said Magdalena Schwartz, a Mesa pastor.

Schwartz is a member of the Alliance of Valley Religious Leaders, a group that has been or- ganizing monthly forums at local churches.

The forums invite immigrants to "know the laws so you can follow them and avoid being arrested and deported," according to a flier.


'All they got was a ticket'


Schwartz said she has heard from at least five people in the last month who were stopped by police and remained silent when questioned about their immigration status.

"All they got was a ticket," she said.

That is what happened to Roberto, 34, who said he was stopped in February for making an improper left turn.

Roberto, who did not want his last name published because he is an undocumented immigrant, said he refused to answer questions about his immigration status. Roberto said he also asked to call a lawyer. After three hours, Roberto said, he was given several traffic citations and released.

"I was very, very scared," he said.

Organizers say the forums also are intended to combat racial profiling, which they say is on the rise as police get more involved in enforcing immigration laws, traditionally the job of the federal government.

"It's not an effort to keep people in the country who are undocumented. It's an effort to stop racial profiling," said Antonio Bustamante, a Phoenix lawyer who leads forums for the Alliance of Valley Religious Leaders.

Officials of ICE and law-enforcement agencies say they are not profiling to arrest illegal immigrants.


Daily sweeps


For more than a year, special teams of ICE agents have been going out daily to arrest illegal immigrants in the Valley who had been previously ordered deported.

In fiscal 2007, the sweeps netted 472 illegal immigrants, including 312 fugitives and 160 illegal immigrants they encountered.

Virginia Kice, an ICE spokeswoman, said agents increasingly encounter people who refuse to answer questions, making their job more difficult. But that hasn't deterred the agency.

"We respect that people have rights and they have access to due process, but we have a responsibility to enforce our nation's immigration laws, and we are going to do it," Kice said.

In the past year, Maricopa County sheriff's deputies trained by ICE have arrested at least 780 illegal immigrants.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn't think the forums will prevent deportation. The jail is staffed by officers trained to determine the legal status of every person who is booked.




New policy


The Phoenix Police Department, under pressure from immigration-control groups, is about to implement a policy that will require officers to ask the immigration status of every person arrested for committing a state or local crime and to contact ICE if the person is believed to be in the country unlawfully.

The new policy, however, will not let officers ask about immigration status during civil traffic infractions.

Only the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is questioning people about their immigration status following routine traffic stops.

But some individual police officers from other agencies have been "taking it upon themselves" to question people about their immigration status and turn them over to ICE, Bustamante said.

Hector Yturralde, president of Somos America/We Are America, said his organization has been holding a forum every month for the past year. Each one draws 300 to 1,200 people, he said.

The forums are led by lawyers. Immigrants who attend are handed pamphlets that advise them of their rights. The pamphlet is called "En boca cerrada, no entran moscas," a popular Spanish saying that means, "Into a closed mouth, flies can't enter."

"Silence is the most important right. Remain silent," says the four-page pamphlet, which is published by Somos America, Radio Campesina and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has many members who are immigrants. The pamphlet says that under the law, it is ICE's job to prove that someone is not in the country legally.


Emergency card


The pamphlet includes a card that can be handed over in case of arrest by an immigration officer. It says, "I am asserting my constitutional right to remain silent. I will only tell you my name. I will not answer any other questions. I demand my right to be represented by an attorney (and) to make a telephone call."

The forums are not intended to help undocumented immigrants beat the system, Yturralde said.

"Any type of advocacy that is done with the immigration issue, you are going to be labeled as trying to coach people how to beat the system, and we are not trying to teach them how to beat the system. We are trying to educate them," he said.

On Feb. 14, about 50 people filled a dance hall on Grand Avenue in west Phoenix for a forum organized by Immigrants Without Borders. Lance Wells, a lawyer who provides legal advice through Pre-Paid Legal Services, told attendees, "This isn't a communist country. You have rights. But you have to know your rights."

Afterward, 10 people waited to purchase legal insurance for $26 a month that allows them or family members to phone a lawyer on-call day and night.


www.azcentral.com

lock'em up.. hard labor until they decide to talk.... I mean hard, hard labor with a bread and water diet

Give'm a little bit of Rice on Sunday as a treat

Community groups are responding to a controversial crackdown on illegal immigrants with a controversial plan of their own: They are giving undocumented people advice on how to avoid being deported.

Immigration advocates say they are simply trying to protect the rights of illegal immigrants, not teach them how to beat the system.

Critics say the advice amounts to helping people who have broken the law.

* They are aiding and abetting illegal immigrants.
* They are criminal accessories to illegal immigrants.
* Are licensed lawyers giving the legal advice to non-clients so there is no attorney/client priviledge? Since no attorney/client priviledge exists and the attorney is not representing the client, the attorney is engaged conspirecy. One way to hussle clients.

"It's not an effort to keep people in the country who are undocumented. It's an effort to stop racial profiling," said Antonio Bustamante, a Phoenix lawyer who leads forums for the Alliance of Valley Religious Leaders.

* It is an effort to keep illegal aliens in the country--legal immigrants and citizens don't need this program and it's a way of building a law practice.
* Fact: It is not racial profiling. Fact: There are more illegal immigrants in AZ illegally with Hispanic ancestory than there are with British, Chinese, Norwegan, etc. ancestory. Fact: Hispanic is not a race.

Silence is the most important right. Remain silent," says the four-page pamphlet, which is published by Somos America, Radio Campesina and the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has many members who are immigrants.

* ICE needs to check out the businesses who published the pamphlet--it wasn't designed for legal immigrants nor citizens.

On Feb. 14, about 50 people filled a dance hall on Grand Avenue in west Phoenix for a forum organized by Immigrants Without Borders. Lance Wells, a lawyer who provides legal advice through Pre-Paid Legal Services, told attendees, "This isn't a communist country. You have rights. But you have to know your rights."

* Who is billed for "Pre-Paid Legal Service? Employers, pro-immigration groups, illegal immigrants charged a fee, the Mexican consulate, or we the tax-payers?

Afterward, 10 people waited to purchase legal insurance for $26 a month that allows them or family members to phone a lawyer on-call day and night.

* Legal insurance???? Never heard of such a thing.
*Sounds like the lawyers don't want to lose potential clients to a different attorney.


And whether you're an honest man, or whether you're a thief, Depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.
Benjamin Franklin

That remaining silent will not work next time because they will have ran that fools prints and he will instantly go bye bye. Better not get caught again Roberto.

Because of the Patriot Act, they can hold you until they can Identify you. Get deported or remain silent and sit in jail.

Dixie

Remaining silent the first time should not work either. Listen, if someone is pulled over on a traffic violation and cannot provide a valid operators license, further questions can be asked ( I have probable cause to do so). If that person decides to remain silent in an effort to impede the investigation, that person should not be let go with just a citation. There is a legal obligation and duty to determine the identity of that person .

So guess what. Your going to jail and we will determine who you are.
Once in custody, there are ways in which legal status can be determined.
So yes, remaining silent may delay, but ultimately it will not avoid the inevitable.

Put 'em in GITMO and waterboard them. How do we know they aren't Paki terrorists?

The crackdown, led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, has thousands of immigrants, both legal and illegal, flocking to forums held monthly by at least three pro-immigrant community groups that are giving advice on how to avoid getting de- ported.

The "illegal" immigrants are trying to learn how not to be deported, and the "legal" ones are tyring to learn how to keep their "illegal" family members and friends here.

These groups are aiding and abetting illegal immigrants. Keeping "silent" would only make me more suspicious of their status. HOW DUMB.

They should all be kept behind bars until they talk!

Yep, with much of the above.... and will add this...

That my hunch is that the woman IA arrested for the van crash that killed the 4 kids in MN has been minimally cooperative. Also, what a lot of folks might not be aware of, is that there are some very strong pro-IA / legal defense types in MN especially in Minn-St Paul and some are affiliated with the Univ. of MN. Recall that her attorney (paid for by her sister [now how do they know it's really her sister...? ]) is based in Minn-St Paul as well.

I think she's either had prior coaching or is being handled extremely intensively by both her legal advisors and even the local LE / media too.