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ACLU Questions State Trooper Over Illegal Alien Arrest
by Jay on 08-08-06 @ 3:48 pm Filed under ACLU, Border Control/Homeland Security, News
This is from the Westerly Sun:

A Rhode Island State Police trooper was following procedure when he asked 14 passengers in a van - all illegal immigrants - to produce identification following a traffic stop on Route 95, state police officials say.

Rhode Island’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union feels differently.

On July 11, at about 6:30 a.m., Trooper Thomas Chabot pulled a van over because the driver allegedly failed to use his turn signal while switching lanes on Interstate 95, said State Police spokesman Maj. Steven O’Donnell.

After Chabot spoke with the driver, O’Donnell said the trooper asked all the passengers in the van for identification. When none of them could produce a driver’s license, he questioned the passengers, who told him they were in the country illegally, O’Donnell said.

The trooper then called Immigration and Customs Enforcement and escorted the van to ICE headquarters in Providence. All of the illegal immigrants are awaiting deportation hearings, said O’Donnell.
So the State Trooper did his job and as a result we have 14 individuals that have no respect for our laws being deported. I can’t see what the problem is, but the ACLU are quick to the scene.

The ACLU, however, has since complained that the trooper didn’t have just cause to ask the passengers in the van for identification and may have been practicing racial profiling when he stopped the van..

“It’s hard to understand why a state trooper who was on radar patrol would go out of his way to stop a van solely for failure to put on a turn signal. If troopers did that everyday on Route 95, they wouldn’t have time to stop anybody for speeding,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. “That at least raises a suspicion that the appearance of the driver or then passengers led to the stop.”
I’ve been pulled over for reasons just as petty as this before and can asssure you that in my case it had nothing to do with race. The race card has become a catch all in today’s times to contest the results of anything and everything one doesn’t like the result of. The liberals are always too eager to pull this one out of their hat. In all likelyhood this group was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The ACLU are most likely barking up the wrong tree with their complaint that the officer asked everyone for their identifications. Precedent doesn’t seem to be on the ACLU’s side for this accusation as the article states…

“In 2004, the United States Supreme Court ruled that for the safety of the officers, it’s incumbent on them to know who they’re dealing with when they stop a car,” O’Donnell said. “The court ruling establishes that police can ask passengers for identification during a traffic stop.”
The ACLU has further allegations including a claim that the officer threatened to shoot anyone that tried to escape while being escorted to ICE headquarters. However the officer is confident that video of the stop will show this claim as false. He also points out that none of the illegals involved in the stop have filed a formal complaint. It seems the only people complaints are second hand and they are from the ACLU.

Ah well, a complaint about the deportation of illegal aliens from an organization that lobbies for completely open borders shouldn’t come as much of a suprise.