Thread: N.M.: State GOP takes aim at Albuquerque mayor's policy on..

State GOP takes aim at Albuquerque mayor's policy on undocumented immigrants

By Caleb Fort, Kate Nash (Contact)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

If you missed the announcement about how Albuquerque police deal with undocumented immigrants, that's OK. The Republican Party of New Mexico might call to tell you about it.

Party officials sent "many thousands" of recorded telephone calls Tuesday asking recipients to contact Mayor Martin Chavez's office and protest the policy revision, state GOP spokesman Scott Darnell said.

The revision, which went into effect Aug. 6, makes it clear that the Albuquerque Police Department is not supposed to enforce federal immigration laws and will not question anyone about their immigration status during noncriminal investigations, Chief Ray Schultz said at a news conference Tuesday.

That has been the department's policy at least since 2001, when the City Council passed legislation declaring Albuquerque an "immigrant-friendly city."

That legislation said the city could not use any municipal resources "to identify individuals' immigration status or apprehend persons on the sole basis of immigration status."

Police can ask about immigration status during criminal investigations, Schultz said.

"This will not at all change the way we investigate crime," he said.

The clarifications are part of the settlement of a 2005 lawsuit that accused the department of detaining three high school students until they could be questioned by immigration officials.

The new policy makes it clear that police, including school resource officers, cannot question students about their immigration status, said David Urias, lead counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, which filed the lawsuit.

It also says Mexican Consular Identification Cards are valid forms of identification.

The revised policy will allay immigrants' fears of calling the police if they are the victims or witnesses of a crime, said Claudia Medina, executive director of Enlace Communitario, an organization to help Spanish-speaking domestic violence victims.

"This sends the message that in this country, it is OK to call the police," she said. "They are here to protect us, whether we are immigrants or not."

Darnell said the Republicans' calling campaign is intended to inform the public about the policy and to hold Chavez responsible.

"It's a warning to people that this guy wants to be the governor of New Mexico, and we've already got a governor who has offered a tremendous amount of incentives to illegal aliens and Marty Chavez would, based on his actions today, continue to offer more," Darnell said.

Chavez, a Democrat, has said he is considering a run for higher office.

The recorded call asks several times that the listener call Chavez.

"Under Marty Chavez' leadership, the Albuquerque Police Department will no longer report criminal illegal aliens to immigration officials," a woman's voice says.

"The police have been ordered to turn a blind eye to criminal illegal aliens, even violent felons. Call Mayor Chavez at 768-3000 and tell him that criminal illegal aliens should be reported to deportation officials."

Not all law enforcement agencies in Albuquerque follow the same rules on enforcing federal immigration law.

Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies are not allowed to stop someone based solely on suspicion of illegal immigration, but if they have legally stopped someone - such as during a traffic stop or criminal investigation - they are allowed to ask.

"That's the way it should be," said Sheriff Darren White, a Republican. "If there's one thing we should have learned in this era, it's that there are people trying to come into this country to harm us."

If deputies arrest someone they think is in the country illegally, they are required to inform Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

State Police usually do not ask about immigration status, unless they suspect human smuggling, said Peter Olson, a spokesman for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/aug/15 ... licy-undo/

According to a staffer, the Mayor is denying this saying it was wrong information given to the media. Mayor Chavez is a dem who is going to make a run for Governor so I'm sure nothing regarding sanctuary for illegals will change.