WYFF4.com
Police Not Required To Check Immigration Status
Woman Pushes For Procedure Change After Wreck

POSTED: 4:36 pm EDT April 18, 2008

EASLEY, S.C. -- An Upstate woman is calling for change after she got into a wreck with an illegal immigrant.

Tracy Autry said that she thinks police could have prevented the wreck if they had checked up on the legal status while making arrests.

Autry, who is the mother of three, said she is still haunted by the wreck that happened on March 28.

She said she is lucky her children weren't with her.

"It was definitely very fortunate that my children were not with me because it could have hurt them pretty bad," Autry said.

Investigators said that Enrique Reyes Quintero was intoxicated when he hit Autry's white Suburban. Police said they found an open bottle of Wild Turkey in Quintero's car.

Autry said, "I also found out at the same time that he was unlicensed and illegal."

WYFF has learned that Quintero was previously charged with drunk driving in February 2007. Easley police said that they did not check on Quintero's legal status because it isn't something local law officers do.

Autry said, "It needs to be a mandatory thing for them to do the checks to see if they are illegal."

Major Tim Tollison said, "At this time, the Easley Police Department is not set up to do that. We have attended work sessions and are exploring ideas."

Autry said, in general, she is not concerned about illegal immigrants.

"But when they're causing trouble time after time, they definitely need to be sent back," she said.

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