Thread: No license to drive: Illegal immigrant drivers...

Under Federal law, DHS can make agreements to delegate immigration enforcement powers to state and local authorities, but the police have to be trained in immigration enforcement.

Maricopa County, Arizona is about to be part of the program, and it's officers will receive eight weeks of training. I know Florida has been a part of the program for years, and someone told me Georgia participates now too. I think every state, county, and local government should participate.

The only caveat is the training is an absolute must, not only to be able to detect fraudulent documents but to have a basic understanding of the complex immigration laws, because it is easy to make mistakes, like the status adjusters I mentioned above.

If you think about your situation, if the police that detained the illegal alien that hit you had had immigration enforcement powers, they could have detained the other driver for illegal entry and turned him over to ICE. Without that power, they can let DHS know they suspect someone (unless it's a sanctuary city) but if DHS doesn't put a detainer warrant on him promptly they have to let him go as if it was an ordinary case of driving without a license.

Thank you for sharing your unfortunate story Dale. I hate to wish harm on another human being and yet I almost wish something like this would occur to an elected official or to one of their loved ones. They might sing a different tune.
Welcome, Dale, and I sincerely wish you well.

Originally Posted by bquasius

Under Federal law, DHS can make agreements to delegate immigration enforcement powers to state and local authorities, but the police have to be trained in immigration enforcement.

Maricopa County, Arizona is about to be part of the program, and it's officers will receive eight weeks of training. I know Florida has been a part of the program for years, and someone told me Georgia participates now too. I think every state, county, and local government should participate.

The only caveat is the training is an absolute must, not only to be able to detect fraudulent documents but to have a basic understanding of the complex immigration laws, because it is easy to make mistakes, like the status adjusters I mentioned above.

If you think about your situation, if the police that detained the illegal alien that hit you had had immigration enforcement powers, they could have detained the other driver for illegal entry and turned him over to ICE. Without that power, they can let DHS know they suspect someone (unless it's a sanctuary city) but if DHS doesn't put a detainer warrant on him promptly they have to let him go as if it was an ordinary case of driving without a license.

That red tape is unnecessary. Police can hold those who commit other federal offenses without any requirement to be "specially trained." How much training does it take to figure out that a scumbag who commits a crime, speaks no English, has no valid identification, green card or visa, is probably an illegal alien. After all, each of us is required to provide positive ID, and the police may hold an actual citizen who has no ID until he is positively identified.

If you ask me, the requirement for special training is just another example of the feds placing an intentional impediment in the path of local officers who try to uphold the law. And, yes, this is most certainly an impediment for police forces like my own. As I have previously mentioned, I am active in city politics and am well aware how undermanned and underfunded my own city's police force is at the moment. Not only would funding be difficult to come by, the time required for the training would leave our police force seriously shorthanded. I'm sure that's the case in many, if not most, municipalities. If the feds are not going to do their jobs, it's an unfair burden to place on local forces to require them have special training to do something that anyone with a modicum of common sense can figure out.

Originally Posted by Tom2

Originally Posted by bquasius

No ID? False statements to a police officer? Take them to the station for driving without a license and false statements, and keep them there until they or a family member or friend comes up with some form of valid ID, or a magistrate sets them free. Note: under federal law all aliens except for minors must keep immigration documentation with them at all times, so an alien in public without immigration documentation is a federal immigration offense in itself, not to mention driving without a license or false statements.

What makes you believe the law enforcement community is large enough to arrest 12-30 million illegal aliens who are skilled liars and scofflaws with fraudulent, stolen or no documentation at all? It's a nightmare for them. You know very well the torrent of illegal aliens is far more than the combined efforts of DHS and law enforcement can handle. That's why most Americans would favor a military solution to the deportation and border problem. Because the federal government is paralyzed with political correctness, that's also why we see more citizens becoming active and organizing resistance efforts. The solution is to terminate jobs, social services, housing, education and medical care. Once that's done, only the hard-core scofflaws will remain and that's a manageable number with which our combined efforts can deal.

The Center for Immigration Studies (www.cis.org) did a study, and estimated that for about $2 Billion more for interior ICE enforcment officers, and improved workplace enforcement (i.e. new proposed regulations to require employers to follow-up on "no match) illegal immigration could be cut by 50%, by drastically eliminating jobs for illegal immigrants.

Add immigration enforcement by trained state and local police, along with better border controls, and we could achieve much more than a 50% reduction. Arrests this year at the border are down from last year, yet there are more agents plus the national guard.

I think the solution is a combination of all of the above, and absolutely NO AMNESTY. We gave three million amnesty in 1986 and now we have 11-20 million illegal aliens. Amnesty only encourages more illegal aliens to come.

Originally Posted by bquasius

Originally Posted by Tom2

Originally Posted by bquasius

No ID? False statements to a police officer? Take them to the station for driving without a license and false statements, and keep them there until they or a family member or friend comes up with some form of valid ID, or a magistrate sets them free. Note: under federal law all aliens except for minors must keep immigration documentation with them at all times, so an alien in public without immigration documentation is a federal immigration offense in itself, not to mention driving without a license or false statements.

What makes you believe the law enforcement community is large enough to arrest 12-30 million illegal aliens who are skilled liars and scofflaws with fraudulent, stolen or no documentation at all? It's a nightmare for them. You know very well the torrent of illegal aliens is far more than the combined efforts of DHS and law enforcement can handle. That's why most Americans would favor a military solution to the deportation and border problem. Because the federal government is paralyzed with political correctness, that's also why we see more citizens becoming active and organizing resistance efforts. The solution is to terminate jobs, social services, housing, education and medical care. Once that's done, only the hard-core scofflaws will remain and that's a manageable number with which our combined efforts can deal.

The Center for Immigration Studies (www.cis.org) did a study, and estimated that for about $2 Billion more for interior ICE enforcment officers, and improved workplace enforcement (i.e. new proposed regulations to require employers to follow-up on "no match) illegal immigration could be cut by 50%, by drastically eliminating jobs for illegal immigrants. Add immigration enforcement by trained state and local police, along with better border controls, and we could achieve much more than a 50% reduction. Arrests this year at the border are down from last year, yet there are more agents plus the national guard. I think the solution is a combination of all of the above, and absolutely NO AMNESTY. We gave three million amnesty in 1986 and now we have 11-20 million illegal aliens. Amnesty only encourages more illegal aliens to come.

You didn't answer the question. You know perfectly well that we haven't enough staffing to "take them to the station" and our stations are far too small anyway. And how effective was that study? We've seen too many studies and not enough enforcement. Simply asking the deadbeats to stop feeding at the public trough is more effective than that study. Regarding what could be done, much could, would and should. But in the past ten years, what percentage of illegal aliens have been deported? In engineering terms it's infinitesimal, effectively a big zero. I still believe you're a troll, perhaps illegal and you need to stop pretending to be a patriot while pandering and proposing appeasement. It insults our intelligence and reveals yours.

In cases that went to the Supreme Court in the 70s and 80s and were mostly filed by Mexicans, resulted in different rules than what regular police officers have to deal with. I know many of them as I took a course while getting my criminal justice degree that covered it but many police officers don't know them. That is why they need training. Another reason for it is if the officers know right off what the proper procedure is, then the illegal can't get off on a technicallity.
In the mid to late 90s there was a law that was enacted to have county and municipal police departments get involved in catching illegals but it was not successful. Many police chiefs and sheriffs thought that it would be bad as the illegals would fear the police and therefore be bad for community relations. I think the other non mentioned reason has to do with some of them injuring and /or killing law enforcement agents. This has happened in Texas recently and could happen again. Not to mention the threats they make against police officers.