Hispanics Fearful of Federal Gang Investigation
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Hispanics fearful of federal gang investigation
Friday, July 22, 2005
LISA OSBURN
News staff writer
Fear runs deep in Shelby County's Hispanic communities this week as a federal gang investigation continues, bringing agents to neighborhoods largely left alone in previous immigration roundups, advocates said Thursday.
Apprehension has been mounting for more than a month, said Isabel Rubio, executive director of The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama. Her office received calls about intensifying scrutiny long before federal authorities detained 30 people this week, she said.
"We understand there are concerns in Hoover, Pelham and Alabaster about the growing Latino community," Rubio said. "But it is our concern that Latino members of the community are being unfairly picked on, possibly victims of racial profiling. We have heard incidents where people are being asked to take off their shirts during routine traffic stops so tattoos can be photographed."
A witness to a Tuesday raid of an Alabaster mobile home park said federal agents were asking young men about gang involvement and took pictures of their tattoos.
Few details are being released about the investigation, but some wonder why it has ventured into Pelham and Alabaster, cities left alone in previous immigration roundups, said Susan Castillo, an advocate for Hispanics in the area.
"We are going to be targeted now," Castillo said. "The fear is that they will be waiting at the gate of the trailer park, waiting for people to come home from work."
More details are expected to be released next week, federal agents said.
Sending message:
The raids should send a message to people considering joining a gang, said Lt. Scott Tucker of the Pelham Police Department. He declined to comment about the specifics of the investigation but said Pelham officers and other law enforcement agencies are assisting the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hoover police records show that 30 people were processed through the Hoover Jail Tuesday and transferred to the Etowah County Jail in Gadsden, where the federal government processes illegal immigrants.
"This is one of these things that will be ongoing. It will never stop," Tucker said. "The investigation led to contacts that have been made. Are there additional ones coming? Yeah, that is always possible.
"We would hope that the ones who are in gangs or wannabe gangs, however you want to put it, catch the hint and understand we are serious about it."
He said gangs are everywhere, including Shelby County, but there is not a large contingency there. Pelham police officers have been trained to identify certain gang symbols and would take pictures of tattoos only in certain circumstances, such as when they thought the picture would assist a future investigation, Tucker said.
"We don't just take pictures of everybody who has a tattoo," he said.
No law to save them:
Robert Cox, a Birmingham immigration attorney, said chances are slim that the people taken to Etowah County will remain in the country.
"I have people call me all the time who have a brother, a friend or other family member in this situation. Basically, I tell them if the person entered illegally and has been working, there is nothing under the law to save them," he said.
"It is going to cost you $4,000 to $6,000 to try, and you are not going to get anything out of it. I tell them to take the money and give it to their relative to go back to Mexico."
Many times when people are locked up on a charge of entry without inspection, it is easier for them to just agree to leave the country, Cox said. But many people being detained do not know to ask for that option.
"Some could sit in that jail for six months before being removed from the country," Cox said.
E-mail: losburn@bhamnews.com
Re: Hispanics Fearful of Federal Gang Investigation
Quote:
"We understand there are concerns in Hoover, Pelham and Alabaster about the growing Latino community," Rubio said. "But it is our concern that Latino members of the community are being unfairly picked on, possibly victims of racial profiling. We have heard incidents where people are being asked to take off their shirts during routine traffic stops so tattoos can be photographed."
A witness to a Tuesday raid of an Alabaster mobile home park said federal agents were asking young men about gang involvement and took pictures of their tattoos.
"We are going to be targeted now," Castillo said. "The fear is that they will be waiting at the gate of the trailer park, waiting for people to come home from work."
Taking pictures of gang tattoos is nothing new. But to read this article it sounds like it is. I'll bet there are a lot of illegal gang memebers now that wish they woudn't have gotten their tattoos. :x
If they are stopped for probable cause, have done nothing wrong and cooperate and are not illegal, they don't have anything to worry about. I doubt that the police and FEDs will be at the entrance of the trailer park checking people as they come home from work.
There must be a high level of crime and gang activity for the FEDs to have stepped in there.
BobC - I agree with you. The race card has got to be thrown out. This is about illegal aliens and gang member criminals.
