http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07177/797146-53.stm


Immigration advocates go to city hall
Upset with police tactics, group wants meeting with mayor
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Alfonso Barquera, of Beechview, said he was stopped by city police, cursed at, asked for his "documents" and made to sit in a hot car for an hour Wednesday because of his Latino heritage.


Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper said no one is stopped because of their ethnicity, and if anyone is cursed at or treated badly due to their nationality, they should file complaints -- and so far, they haven't.

Yesterday those viewpoints intersected at Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office, where 40 immigration advocates demanded a meeting with him to discuss police procedures that include questions about residency.

"We've had a number of abuses from a few city police officers," said Scott Fabean, vice president of the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, which led the effort.

He said the group met with Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and county District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, Jr., but couldn't get a date with the mayor, despite six months of asking, because he was out of town.

"It's important to meet with the mayor, because we are in the city of Pittsburgh, which is supposedly the most livable city in America," he said.

Mr. Barquera, a 35-year-old Mexican paralegal who has lived in Pittsburgh for 10 years, said he was in a car with two women and three children, traveling from a meeting on the North Side, when police pulled them over.

The officer "wanted to see our documents," he said, and became angry even though the driver presented an international driver's license, a Mexican driver's license and the vehicle title. They were made to sit in the hot car for an hour, while six squad cars came to the scene and police called the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, he said.

"The heat inside was intense, and the police didn't let us put the windows down," he said. "The children started to cry."

He said they were given three minor vehicle code citations, then let go.

Things like that "are happening more and more often," said Sister Janice Vanderneck, who works with immigrants for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

"It's not that our officers are out there looking for immigrants or any ethnic group," said Chief Harper. If someone is pulled over, he said, "they either ran a red light, or stop sign, or were involved in an accident, speeding violation or possibly an equipment violation."

The Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board hasn't received any reports of misconduct toward immigrants, said Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger.

City police shouldn't be asking for residency documents, Mr. Fabean argued.

"Local law enforcement is under no obligation to enforce federal immigration laws," he said. "They have neither the expertise, nor the funds."

Chief Harper said his officers will continue to call the ICE when presented with immigration issues.

"We're just checking all possibilities to make sure that we're not possibly letting go someone who's wanted in the U.S." for a crime, he said.

He added that he wants immigrants' rights groups to participate in police sensitivity training in the future.

Mr. Fabean said mistreatment of immigrants isn't restricted to the city. He said that he recently spent a night with three victims of a Braddock house fire who were held for eight hours by county police while their residency status was checked.

They were not offered medical help or water, he said, "they were just asked, 'Where are your documents?' "

The mayor was in Los Angeles and returning from a conference. City policy manager Gabe Mazefsky said he will try to provide Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network with a date and time for a meeting within two weeks.

Advocates warned that the clock is ticking.

"If there is a lawsuit that goes forward for more racial profiling, the city will have had notice," private attorney Jacqueline Martinez told Mr. Mazefsky.