Thread: PHX:Why some immigrants are let go

Why some immigrants are let go
On the beat, a person's immigration status may or may not become an issue
by Daniel González - Jun. 14, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
In a city with one of the largest undocumented populations in the nation, Phoenix police officers frequently encounter people who could be in the country illegally.

But a recent three-hour ride-along with a Phoenix police officer showed that deciding who should be questioned about their immigration status - and turned over to federal authorities for possible deportation - and who shouldn't isn't always so clear-cut.

That is where a year-old immigration policy is supposed to help out. The policy gives officers more discretion to question people about their immigration status. But the policy places emphasis on people involved with crime and requires officers to document contact with ICE to help prevent racial profiling.
One recent Tuesday evening, Sgt. Mario Leoni was cruising north on 35th Avenue when he came up on a Ford Taurus that was going much slower than the speed limit. That made Leoni suspicious. He decided to run a license-plate check on the car. The query showed the vehicle had no insurance. So Leoni pulled it over.

The stop took place in the Maryvale precinct on the city's west side. The area's residents are mostly Latinos, and a large proportion of them are immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala, both legal and illegal.

The driver and passenger, both wearing dusty clothes and ball caps, told Leoni they were construction workers driving home from a job.

As it turned out, the driver did have vehicle insurance. But several clues indicated the men might be in the country illegally. They spoke only Spanish and neither had an Arizona driver's license. The driver showed Leoni a matricula consular card, which many illegal immigrants from Mexico rely on for identification, and the passenger carried only a Mexican driver's license from Durango.

After a computer check revealed no criminal records or outstanding warrants, Leoni told the men to switch places so the one with the driver's license was behind the wheel. In this case, Leoni could have cited the driver for driving without a license, a misdemeanor.

But he let the men drive away, without a citation and without asking a single question about their immigration status.

"Those are just a couple of hard-working dudes," Leoni said, climbing back in his patrol vehicle.

That might shock anti-illegal immigration advocates, who want local police to arrest every illegal immigrant they encounter so they can be deported, usually the federal government's job.

But Leoni said he was just following the department's immigration policy. Officers may question people about their immigration status as part of a criminal investigation. But to Leoni this was just a routine traffic stop; he didn't believe the men were engaged in criminal activity. Leoni said the policy has other goals as well.

It's intended to prevent officers from questioning people about their immigration based on race or appearance, a practice known as profiling that could lead to civil-rights abuses.

And more importantly, it's aimed at keeping officers from being tied up for long periods of time attending to immigration violators when they could be needed for more serious crimes. That's why a supervisor must be the one to decide whether to contact ICE.

For all those reasons, officers frequently let suspected illegal immigrants go.

"We have that discretion," Leoni said. "Our main concern is whether a crime has been committed."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... g0614.html

As it turned out, the driver did have vehicle insurance. But several clues indicated the men might be in the country illegally. They spoke only Spanish and neither had an Arizona driver's license. The driver showed Leoni a matricula consular card, which many illegal immigrants from Mexico rely on for identification, and the passenger carried only a Mexican driver's license from Durango.

US insurance company? No US driver's license? Does the police need a fry pan to their head? Common sense, please

In this case, Leoni could have cited the driver for driving without a license, a misdemeanor.

If this had been you or me, we would have been cited with a ticket costing between $200 to $300 dollars. This ticket would have been a huge burden for any one of us.

"Those are just a couple of hard-working dudes," Leoni said, climbing back in his patrol vehicle.

What an attitude! Driving while illegal exempts you from traffic laws. I've been saying this for years. They're always challenging law that doesn't treat people equally and this is a perfect example of un-equal treatment under the law. Driving without a valid drivers license, let alone probably violating a Federal Law as well.

And Mayor Gordon says, we don't want to detain "DISHWASHERS." But he has no qualms about detaining American citizens who break the law.
Gordon has got to go!

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

As it turned out, the driver did have vehicle insurance. But several clues indicated the men might be in the country illegally. They spoke only Spanish and neither had an Arizona driver's license. The driver showed Leoni a matricula consular card, which many illegal immigrants from Mexico rely on for identification, and the passenger carried only a Mexican driver's license from Durango.

US insurance company? No US driver's license? Does the police need a fry pan to their head? Common sense, please

My best guess would be that the car belonged to another party who wasn't present and he just put the licenced driver (with the Mex lic.) behind the wheel.

Illegals are criminals the minute they come into our country illegally and/or over stay their visa.

You can't always blame the police. ICE will not alway come and pick them up and police can't babysit them for hours waiting. There was a fire in an apartment in Broward County that was full of illegals. Police officers rounded them up and had them all in handcuffs waiting for ICE. There were 12 of them and ICE wouldn't show up. I know officers in one department who will actually drive them to the Border Patrol office when they catch them committing a midemeanor crime to have them deported. If they arrested them they serve some time and are released and do not get deported. Border Patrol agents have told several officers what do you want me to do with them.
Miami Dade Police and the City of Miami Police cannot ask immigration status and if they run someone and they come up as overstaying a visa, the person produces fake ID which is very obvious, or admits to being here illegally only then will they do something.
As for the officer in the article he is well aware that if the person gets a ticket they will not pay or go to court and will relocate to another city or state. They do that all the time.