Thread: LA Police Sued For Not Seeking Immigration Status

LA police sued for not seeking immigration status of suspects
By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Opponents of illegal immigration on Wednesday sued the Los Angeles Police Department, taking aim at its long-standing "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding suspects' immigration status.


The Superior Court lawsuit seeks to force officers to inform federal immigration officials when illegal immigrants are arrested on drug charges.


Department policy prohibits officers from inquiring about the immigration status of suspects, a policy strongly supported by Police Chief Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.


The suit was brought on behalf of unidentified police officers who are afraid to speak out but argue the policy creates a situation where the same illegal immigrants are repeatedly arrested when they could have been deported, said lawyer David Klehm.


"This is being done at the request of the police officers," said Klehm. "Everyone I spoke to told me their hands were tied with this policy."


The suit is based on a section of the state's Health and Safety Code, which states that in drug cases involving a non-citizen "the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation."


Klehm, an anti-illegal immigration activist based in Orange County, filed a similar against the San Jose Police Department a few weeks ago.


Since being adopted in 1979, Los Angeles' Special Order 40 has become a mainstay of police departments across the country. Proponents argue that if police start enforcing immigration law, immigrants — both legal and otherwise — will not report crimes or help police in investigations.


"Without trust, the community is not willing to partner with us in reporting or solving crimes," said police spokeswoman Mary Grady.


Bratton argued the department didn't have the resources to work as immigration agents.


Illegal immigration "is a federal crime, and there are so many illegal immigrants here," Bratton told KCAL-TV. "I'm lucky I have enough resources to deal with traditional crime, let alone federal immigration policy."


Los Angeles police officers do not ask immigration status in the course of interviewing victims, witnesses and suspects, and don't arrest someone based on being in the country illegally.


If an officer learns a suspect is undocumented, in some cases the policy allows the department to turn the information over to immigration officials. Those cases include gang members who have been previously deported, and suspects arrested for a felony or multiple misdemeanors.


The suit comes amid increased immigration raids across the country that have detained thousands of immigrants.


Some immigration reform proposals the past year have included laws mandating that police forces work more closely with immigration agents.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... 113D85.DTL

Without trust, the community is not willing to partner with us in reporting or solving crimes," said police spokeswoman Mary Grady.

If the community is illegal, they too should not be here!

Illegal immigration "is a federal crime, and there are so many illegal immigrants here," Bratton told KCAL-TV. "I'm lucky I have enough resources to deal with traditional crime, let alone federal immigration policy."

If he is so worried about "traditional" crime, whatever that means, you would think he would want to report illegal alien criminals to the Feds to get them deported. To say that having illegal alien criminals protected from deportation helps to stop crime is absurd.

The suit was brought on behalf of unidentified police officers who are afraid to speak out but argue the policy creates a situation where the same illegal immigrants are repeatedly arrested when they could have been deported, said lawyer David Klehm.

Klehm, an anti-illegal immigration activist based in Orange County, filed a similar against the San Jose Police Department a few weeks ago.

This is very good news! In view of this:

state's Health and Safety Code, which states that in drug cases involving a non-citizen "the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation."

I don't see how they can lose. In order to find out if the suspect is a citizen, you have to do a little investigative work (asking would be a start).

Originally Posted by MW

The suit was brought on behalf of unidentified police officers who are afraid to speak out but argue the policy creates a situation where the same illegal immigrants are repeatedly arrested when they could have been deported, said lawyer David Klehm.

[quote:v5e9nic2]Klehm, an anti-illegal immigration activist based in Orange County, filed a similar against the San Jose Police Department a few weeks ago.

This is very good news! In view of this:

state's Health and Safety Code, which states that in drug cases involving a non-citizen "the arresting agency shall notify the appropriate agency of the United States having charge of deportation."

I don't see how they can lose. In order to find out if the suspect is a citizen, you have to do a little investigative work (asking would be a start). [/quote:v5e9nic2]

This is awesome news. Especially coming from the officers.