Differing Policies Clash In Arrest Of Illegal Immigrant
Jonah Newman
Issue date: 4/30/09

Northwestern University Police's arrest of an illegal immigrant this week has drawn attention from all sides of the immigration debate, with activists, police and politicians voicing praise and criticism. The incident has also raised questions about discrepancies between city and university law enforcement and their cooperation with federal immigration officials.

A UP officer pulled over Ramiro Sanchez-Zepeda, 25, early Sunday morning on suspicion of drunk driving, Cmdr. Darren Davis said. The driver was unable to produce a valid driver's license or proof of insurance.

While trying to determine Sanchez-Zepeda's identity, UP apparently discovered that he was in the country illegally, Davis said. They contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and detained him overnight before turning him over to ICE on Monday, Davis said.

Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) said UP shouldn't have turned Sanchez-Zepeda over to federal officials.

"I'm appalled at the fact that the University Police is pursuing that kind of practice," he said.

Jean-Baptiste referred to a resolution passed by the Evanston City Council last March, which called for immigrants and their families to be treated "on a humane and just basis" by city workers and officials.

The resolution called for comprehensive immigration reform on the federal level and indicated that Evanston officials would not actively seek out information about a person's immigration status. It stopped short, however, of stating that police could not consider someone's status in arresting them, which was proposed.

"We wanted to have ourselves counted as standing up for immigrant rights," said Ald. Edmund Moran (6th).

Moran, who had proposed a version of the resolution that more specifically mentioned the role of police, said he thought it was binding on Evanston police, but not UP.

"The scope of the resolution was confined to the city efforts, and we did not seek to extend it over Northwestern's jurisdiction," he said.

Sunday's arrest made clear that Evanston Police Department and UP officers have different understandings of their role in immigration issues.

In accordance with the resolution, Evanston police do not refer suspects to federal immigration officials unless the officials are specifically looking for them, EPD Cmdr. Tom Guenther said.

But UP Cmdr. Davis said he believes UP officers acted appropriately and according to the law.

"We were led by policy, procedure and state law," Davis said. "When we are trying to identify (a suspect) and realize that he doesn't have identification and that he doesn't have identification because he's not a citizen, we have to refer him to the federal government."

The differences in policy between Evanston and University Police follow the arguments on either side of the national immigration debate.

ICE officials and local anti-immigrant activists worry that policies like EPD's make the city less safe.

"Any type of sanctuary policy represents a serious public safety issue and results in communities affording a 'safe haven' for criminal illegal aliens," ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro wrote in an e-mail.

Rosanna Pulido, director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, an anti-illegal immigration organization, said the City Council's resolution invites illegal immigrants to come to Evanston, which she said she believes makes it less safe.

"They're inviting the swine flu," Pulido said. "They're literally rolling up the red carpet."

But Carlina Tapia-Ruano, a Chicago-based immigration lawyer and former national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said local law enforcement has no place enforcing immigration law.

"University police has the primary mission to provide an environment that is safe and to reduce crime," Tapia-Ruano said. "What does turning over an individual to ICE do to make people safer on campus?"

In the meantime, Sanchez-Zepeda awaits deportation hearings at the Kenosha County Jail, which can often take weeks or even months, Tapia-Ruano said.

Placido Quintero, the manager of Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant and Bar, who came here illegally from Mexico almost 25 years ago but is now a U.S. citizen, worries that this arrest will scare immigrants away from Evanston.

By working, living and spending money in Evanston, immigrants are an important part of the local economy, Quintero said.

"The illegals, they cook for the policemen too," he said.



jnewman@u.northwestern.edu

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