Thread: Metro Traffic Stops Lead To Deportations

Metro traffic stops lead to most deportations
Sheriff's immigration crackdown catches more minor offenders than violent criminals

By KATE HOWARD • Staff Writer • April 27, 2008


For Ramiro Aguirre, the path to deportation began with a broken headlight.

A Nashville police officer pulled him over last November, and Aguirre was arrested when he couldn't produce a driver's license. He went from jail to a deportation center to Mexico. All after a minor traffic violation.
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Aguirre is not alone. In the first year that the Nashville Police and Davidson County Sheriff's departments have participated in a nationwide immigration enforcement program, half of the nearly 3,000 people arrested under that program were caught during routine traffic stops, many of them for driving without a license.

And despite local law enforcement's stated goal of concentrating on repeat and violent offenders, that is not the case. A Tennessean arrest analysis shows:

Since April 2007, just 19 percent of those arrested were charged with felonies. The rest were charged with misdemeanors.

Only 3 percent were charged with a violent felony, such as homicide, rape, aggravated assault or robbery. And just 6 percent of those arrested had a violent crime in their past.

In contrast, about 62 percent went to jail for the first time.

The remaining 38 percent had multiple arrests in their background, but almost two-thirds of those were for misdemeanors.

Advocates for illegal immigrants say deporting people like Aguirre after traffic infractions does more harm than good and does nothing to fix the flawed federal immigration system.

"This program was sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the street," said Ivan Lopez, a Davidson County public defender. "In reality, what's happening is you are breaking up families."

But for Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, a crime is a crime. And an illegal immigrant is an illegal immigrant.

"I think, to me, it's a little irresponsible to wait until someone commits a violent act and then deport them," Hall said. "The person didn't follow immigration laws, driving laws and criminal laws, and that's reason enough to believe they will continue to not follow our laws."

He added that Metro's database goes back only seven years and that serious crimes could have been committed elsewhere.
Program has ballooned

The program under which illegal immigrants are being arrested is run under the auspices of what is known as 287(g) — a nondescript term for one of the fastest-growing policing actions in the country. Based on a 1996 law that permits partnerships between police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, it has ballooned in the past year — including a major presence in Nashville.

Under the program, city and state officials may take on some immigration law enforcement functions, a prerogative formerly left to the federal government. The law empowers state and local officials to identify illegal immigrants among the suspects they've nabbed in various offenses and forward them to deportation proceedings.

More than half of the 47 participating authorities nationwide jumped on board last year and 80 more are in waiting, having made a request to join. Rutherford County Sheriff's Department officials say they have been approved for the program and are awaiting training sessions.

Nashville joined after a notorious case in which an illegal immigrant named Gustavo Garcia Reyes was arrested in 2006 in the wake of an alcohol-induced wreck that killed a Mt. Juliet couple. At the time, Reyes had already been deported once and had at least 14 arrests, including several DUIs, in Nashville. The case spurred the Davidson County Sheriff's Office to start enforcing immigration laws more strictly. At the time, the sheriff's office said it would be targeting people like Reyes — people with long and serious criminal histories.

But Lopez contends that has not been the real result. He said simple traffic violations are escalating into arrests and eventually deportation. One of the reasons, he said, is that illegal immigrants can no longer legally drive in Tennessee, which opens the door to arrest when they are stopped. So when an officer leans in and asks for license and registration, the real drama begins for the illegal immigrant.

In Ramiro Aguirre's four years here, he maintained steady work in construction, his wife worked at McDonald's and they had two children while living in Nashville.

His sister, Elsa Aguirre, recalled a hard life in Mexico and how she and her father moved to California and then to Nashville eight years ago. Back in Mexico, her brother had married and reached out for help from his father in Nashville. Then he, too, moved here and was working construction — a common avenue for illegal immigrants — when he was arrested.

"There are some Latinos who don't behave," Elsa said. "But we are good people. We go to church, and we struggle to make a living."
'They take their chances'

Nashville's program is modeled on one in Mecklenburg County, N.C., where Charlotte is the county seat. Davidson County is now among the model programs in the country, said Jim Pendergraph, the former Mecklenburg County sheriff who now oversees local immigration efforts for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington, D.C.

"The intention of the program, from my perspective, is to identify people in your community who are breaking the law, committing crimes, who are a danger to the community," he said

But immigration lawyer Mario Ramos said many of the immigrants who come to Nashville are essentially economic refugees.

He acknowledges that some who ask him for help entered or stayed in the country without authorization. But he said they are otherwise law-abiding, hard-working people who are fleeing home countries where the average income is often less than $1,000 a year.

"They take their chances," Ramos said. "And I think if they were paying $100 an hour in Canada, there are a lot of Americans who might do that, too."
It starts with traffic stop

Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas said it's up to the arresting officer to decide when an arrest is appropriate.

State law dictates that a physical arrest isn't mandatory on many minor crimes, such as license offenses or trespassing. But Metro policy leaves it to the officer to determine if the offender is likely to show up for court. With identification, a legitimate address and a clean history of appearing in court, the chances are much better that a citation would be issued and the person would not have to go to jail for booking.

"A tremendous amount of thought goes into" that decision, Serpas said.

But the policing philosophy that Serpas has undertaken since he took charge of Metro police in 2004 — traffic stops catch criminals — may be playing a role in the sheer number of immigrants detained in Nashville.

The sheriff's office screened and reported more illegal immigrants to ICE in its first year in the program than any place east of Arizona, a major gateway for immigrants from Mexico and points south. And traffic stops have been the primary means in catching and flagging illegal immigrants.

Serpas said his officers average 5,000 traffic stops per week, more than twice the average number in cities of similar size. He said that the stops make police more visible, and that accidents with injuries have declined in the city each year since he took the helm.

One in every four arrests last year started with a traffic stop, he said.

"People across the United States use vehicles to transport themselves, and criminals use cars to transport themselves as well," Serpas said.

The 200,000-plus traffic stops last year led to arrests about 8 percent of the time. Stops made on Hispanic drivers — about 5 percent of the total — led to arrests and searches 29 percent of the time.

The high number is due in part to the fact that illegal immigrants can no longer legally drive in the state. A program that previously allowed any immigrant to apply for a one-year Tennessee driving certificate was changed in 2006. Now, only those who can prove their legal status can get a certificate.

About 11,000 of the permits are still valid.

In 2006, when the politics of immigration reform was reaching a fever pitch, the Major Cities Chiefs Association said getting involved with the federal law would damage the fragile trust between local police and immigrants.

Serpas, a member of that organization, said he has no such concerns.

"No, I'm not seeing it," Serpas said. "We have not detected any falloff in people being willing to participate and cooperate with the Police Department any more so than what is normal in any community."

He credits the El Protector program, which he established in 2004, as the reason. But the policemen who operate the program say they don't have all the answers to the questions fielded most often from the Hispanic community.

Two Hispanic officers are considered liaisons and work in educational and community-based roles to encourage trust as part of the program. Officer Rafael Fernandez works in the Hermitage precinct, and Officer Juan Borges is assigned to the very diverse South precinct.

Borges, a Puerto Rican native, said there's "no telling" how much crime is going unreported by immigrant victims who fear contact with any uniform. He thinks his program makes a difference, but he has heard more than once about apartment tenants who report to management that they've been robbed, but don't call police.

"It's obvious that a lot of people in the community are concerned, and mainly the concern is the fact that they don't know exactly how it works or who is operating the program," Borges said. "It presents a challenge in letting people know the difference between what the sheriff's office and the police department do."

One of the most common questions he fields is this: What will happen to people who are caught driving without a license?

Borges said he's not completely clear on how the process works, either. He has not yet met with anyone from the sheriff's office to learn more about the program.

He acknowledges it could help with public safety if immigrants knew they were not likely to be deported for reporting a crime.

"We haven't called (the sheriff) yet, but we're going to call to see if we can have a meeting with whoever is in charge of the program so that we can better understand it," Borges said.

Borges said he stresses the importance of keeping proof of identity and residence to show to police, but his main pieces of advice fall into the following categories: learning to speak English, following the state's laws and trying to become legal citizens.

"That way, they will avoid a lot of these issues," Borges said.
Day laborers arrested

Traffic stops are not the only way that illegal immigrants are being rounded up. At least 100 of Nashville's federal detainees have been sent to deportation proceedings while presumably seeking work as day laborers.

Four men were arrested on trespassing charges earlier this month at a Jack in the Box restaurant on Murfreesboro Pike that is a popular spot to pick up day laborers. Although no complaints were made that day, police said businesses adjacent to the parking lot have placed 200 to 400 calls in the past two years complaining of loitering day laborers who approached customers to inquire about work and made some people feel threatened.

The four were found guilty in General Sessions Court last week, and their jail sentences should be completed today. Now, their detention by ICE goes into effect, and their next step will probably be eventual deportation.
Groceries are a gamble

It was the promise of work that led Gabriela Velasquez's family to risk the border crossing and head to Nashville.

She and her two children left Toluca, Mexico, and crossed into Texas eight months ago with their sights on Nashville as their final destination. Velasquez says she knows she's taking a gamble just driving to get groceries.

"You never what is going to happen when you get in a car and there's a police officer looking at you," she said. "You pray and hope for the best. You have to feed your family. But it's fearful. It's by the grace of God."

Ramos, the immigration lawyer, said he has reached a point that he tells people upfront that when it comes to the jail's immigration program, there is very little he can do to stop a deportation.

"I don't want to mislead them, take their money or give people hope when there is really very little I can do," Ramos said. "This country's immigration policy, it is a failure, a failure at the national level, and 287(g) just localizes that failure," Ramos said.

Staff writers Chris Echegaray and Janell Ross and Medill News Service contributed to this report. Contact Kate Howard at 726-8968 or kahoward@tennessean.com.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage (this has a forward play arrow to the right and flashes between different articles.)

My letter to the author:

Dear Ms. Howard:

I just read your article about illegal aliens in our country.

Please read this link:

http://www.immigrationshumancost.org/te ... ctims.html

it shows all the innocent American lives that have been affected by our government's lack of political will to keep illegal aliens out of our country. We have immigration laws for a reason-so that our country will take in people we need, and so that the one's that do come in have had background and medical checks. Immigration laws are written to protects citizens of the country in which those laws were written, not the people who break the laws and enter illegally.


Did you know that since 9/11 more US citizens have been killed by illegal aliens on US soil than US soldiers have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined?

Illegal alines are a burden on our country, LEGAL aliens are not-they have been invited to fill a need and have had background/medical checks.

As I write this there is a program on TV about an illegal alien from a Latin American country who has been diagnosed (at taxpayers cost) with tapeworms-there has been a massive increase in 3rd world diseases along border states resulting from the influx of illegal aliens.

Please write an article about the negative effects that illegal aliens have on US citizens.

Did you know that Mexico's immigration law states, "Mexico reserves the right to arrest and deport any alien Mexico deems inconvenient, and can do so without judicial process." Their immigration laws are much tougher than ours and they are taking advantage of us.

Please reconsider your views. Think about all the Americans who have been killed by illegal alien drunk drivers, and all the American kids who have been raped by illegal aliens (the legal age for sexual consent in Mexico is 12 years old-Mexican men grow up believing what their culture tells them-that it's ok to have sexual relations with 12 year old girls.

Regards,

The replies to this article are over 6 pages long with only about 2 who takes side with the newspaper. Over 80% of the people in Nashville are against illegals, but the paper takes the opposite approach. No wonder they are suffering circulation problems!

But for Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, a crime is a crime. And an illegal immigrant is an illegal immigrant.

"I think, to me, it's a little irresponsible to wait until someone commits a violent act and then deport them," Hall said. "The person didn't follow immigration laws, driving laws and criminal laws, and that's reason enough to believe they will continue to not follow our laws




Sheriff Hall is absolutely right. A crime is a crime...period. In the case of illegal aliens there are multiple crimes involved, not the least of which being that they have no legal right to be in this country to begin with.

This is not an issue of hispanic people being harassed or excessively punished for "minor infractions" simply because of race. To the contrary, it was that minor infraction which led to discovery of their more serious crimes, and it is those more serious offenses they are being punished....rightfully punished......for.

Advocates for illegal immigrants say deporting people like Aguirre after traffic infractions does more harm than good and does nothing to fix the flawed federal immigration system.

"This program was sold to the public as a way to take dangerous criminals off the street," said Ivan Lopez, a Davidson County public defender. "In reality, what's happening is you are breaking up families."

No my dear, this is breaking up families:

http://digitalartpress.wordpress.com/20 ... -children/

Here's what they left out......20% or 600 people out of the 3000 deported over the last year were for DUI!!!! Funny how they overlooked that and focused on things like a headlite out and they call this journalism??!!

"I think, to me, it's a little irresponsible to wait until someone commits a violent act and then deport them," Hall said. "The person didn't follow immigration laws, driving laws and criminal laws, and that's reason enough to believe they will continue to not follow our laws."

EXACTLY! If illegal immigrants cant follow simple immigration laws, what makes anyone think they will obey ANY law?

Originally Posted by gofer

Here's what they left out......20% or 600 people out of the 3000 deported over the last year were for DUI!!!! Funny how they overlooked that and focused on things like a headlite out and they call this journalism??!!

It's called "yellow journalism." We have very few real journalists in this country any more.

It is truly unbelievable how blind that some people can be. With overwhelming evidence and statistics there are those who still cannot see the IA problem that our nation faces. These people are indeed both stupid and ignorant! Maybe we need to have a new category of criminals...Permanently Stupid.

There is a very simple solution to this. If they don't like it, they are free to LEAVE!