Thread: Albuquerque to check arrestees' immigration status

Albuquerque to check arrestees' immigration status|

The Associated Press
Posted: Friday, May 14, 2010 - 5/14/10

ALBUQUERQUE — A new prisoner-processing facility will check the immigration status of every person arrested in New Mexico's largest city, but Albuquerque's mayor on Thursday denied any effort to shadow Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"This has nothing to do with immigration law. This has to do with keeping the streets of Albuquerque safe," Mayor Richard Berry said after the facility was unveiled.

The biggest difference between the current booking facility and the new 5,000-square-foot site is that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents have a station inside, where they can check any prisoner's immigration status.

ICE agents work at jails elsewhere, but Police Chief Ray Schultz said the Albuquerque facility is believed to be the first to have a station inside the booking area where those agents can check fingerprints or photos to examine a prisoner's immigration status.

Bill Jepsen, assistant director of ICE's office for New Mexico and West Texas, said the facility will make work easier for agents because they'll maintain a 24-hour presence.

He said currently, up to 40 illegal immigrants are detained each week at the Bernalillo County jail, but others are sometimes released before their immigration status can be checked.

Critics of the Arizona law, set to take effect July 29, have complained that it encourages racial profiling and is unconstitutional.

It requires police enforcing other laws to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that the person is in the United States illegally and makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

Berry said complaints about racial profiling would be off the mark because every prisoner at the Albuquerque facility will stop at the ICE station. He said the immigration status of anyone booked for a crime "is always pertinent."

While campaigning for mayor last year, Berry criticized a city policy that characterized Albuquerque as a "sanctuary city" for illegal immigrants.

"There was an ambiguity in the policy," Berry said. "They knew that they may or may not be checked when they were arrested. That was the concern I had. This is a well balanced way to address it."

Berry also insisted he won't tolerate racial profiling.

He noted the agreement with federal officials to work at the new facility was reached months ago, long before Arizona's law made headlines, and said Albuquerque's approach protects crime victims and witnesses, who won't be questioned about immigration status.

"Immigrants from any nation are welcome in Albuquerque," Berry said. "Criminals are not."

Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said his group is concerned that the program will erode trust between local law enforcement and the immigrant community. He said the public typically doesn't make a distinction between police and jail authorities.

"I appreciate Mayor Berry's assurances regarding racial profiling, but we will be especially vigilant now for signs that Albuquerque police are arresting people because of race or that this program is only being applied to Hispanic arrestees," Simonson said.

Schultz said representatives from other cities, including Seattle, Pittsburgh and Oakland, Calif., have visited to learn more about Albuquerque's model.

The new facility isn't a jail — merely the first stop for anyone arrested by Albuquerque police, county sheriff's deputies or University of New Mexico police. After processing, prisoners are loaded into vans for transport to the jail.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local% ... ion-status

A step in the right direction for Albuquerque.

A new prisoner-processing facility will check the immigration status of every person arrested in New Mexico's largest city, but Albuquerque's mayor on Thursday denied any effort to shadow Arizona's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"This has nothing to do with immigration law. This has to do with keeping the streets of Albuquerque safe," Mayor Richard Berry said after the facility was unveiled.

PRECISELY what Arizona is doing! Making sure their citizens are safe

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http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-199143.html

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http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-199194.html



Added to Homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article-5260--0-0.html

Berry policy will mean immigration checks for every arrest

By Matthew Reichbach 5/13/10 4:31 PM

Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry announced today that everyone who is arrested in Albuquerque will have their immigration status checked, regardless of race. Berry announced the plan, which Berry characterized as a “not an immigration issueâ€

We have this news from New Mexico because I realized that we weren't getting any news from N.M. and and went looking for some. I have added N.M. to my daily news search. I found several article of interest this week in N.M.

California, Arizona, Texas and North Carolina are well covered. We need someone in each of the other states to post news from their home state each day or for others to volunteer to search a news paper or 2 and a TV station or 2 each day in each of the other states. If each of us take on one or 2 more states we can cover all of them daily instead of everyone looking in the same states as everyone else.

Just an idea.

"This has nothing to do with immigration law. This has to do with keeping the streets of Albuquerque safe," Mayor Richard Berry said after the facility was unveiled.

The mayor doesnt make any sense. If everyone that gets arrested will have their immigration status checked, IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IMMIGRATION LAW. Thank you Mayor, our streets will be safer.