Thread: 'Driving brown' tactic blasted

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/16585195.htm










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Posted on Wed, Jan. 31, 2007



'Driving brown' tactic blasted
Border Patrol claims it isn't racial profiling
By JOSHUA NORMAN
SUN HERALD

A vanload of 15 Latino immigrants was pulled over Monday morning on Interstate 10 by the Border Patrol in Harrison County and 10 of them were found to not have proper immigration documentation, according to witnesses.

Vicki Cintra with Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance said that kind of incident is common with the Border Patrol and represents a kind of racial profiling that could be called racist.

However, Michael Gonzales, assistant chief patrol agent with the New Orleans sector of the Border Patrol, said they were just doing their job.

"That's part of their regular duties," Gonzales said.

Agents from the Gulfport Border Patrol station did not return calls in time for comment on this report.

Agents in the New Orleans sector of the Border Patrol, which includes the Gulfport regional office, sit on Interstate 10 from the Texas-Louisiana border to the Florida Panhandle and look for undocumented immigrants in large and small numbers, Gonzales said.

Gonzales said Border Patrol agents also will patrol bus stations doing essentially the same thing.

Gonzales said there are two methods they use in determining which vehicles are pulled over: One is based on tips and the other is based on perception.

Cintra said her organization has a tremendous problem with the second method of determining which vehicles to pull over because it amounts to a policy of arresting people for "driving while brown."

"They can't tell by just looking through their binoculars whether they're undocumented or not," Cintra said. "Why don't they stop a van full of black people? They could be from Jamaica and be undocumented. Why not a van full of white people? They could be from Russia and be undocumented. They only stop cars and vans full of people that are Latinos."

Gonzales said more than race goes into determining which cars to stop.

"There's a number of different things that they look for," Gonzales said. "We still have to have the probable cause."

Often, the type of vehicle determines it and sometimes agents will pull over the same vehicle several times with undocumented immigrants in it.

Each agent's judgment and experience is largely trusted in determining what vehicles to pull over.

"There's not an official checklist," Gonzales said.

This has led to some mistakes.

"On many occasions, the agents have pulled over vehicles and the people in there have all been documented," Gonzales said.

Although the agency does not discriminate against Latinos, Gonzales said, "The majority of the folks (arrested) do come from Central, South America."

Cintra said she sees the agents working normally in early morning or late afternoon when most Latinos are on their way to or from work.

She said her organization has contacted legal experts to see what can be done about the practice.

"If they're going to be stopping buses and cars, they need to be stopping everyone," Cintra said.



Border Patrol vs. ICE

Two major federal agencies deal with catching and deporting undocumented immigrants: the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The Border Patrol is responsible for undocumented immigrants in transit, which is why it patrols interstate highways and bus stations in addition to international borders.

The Border Patrol can be found along the borders with Canada and Mexico, as well as pretty much every coastal region of the country. That is why it has a regional station in Gulfport.

Each Border Patrol station not on a major border typically has up to 10 agents in it.

The ICE's major concern is with undocumented immigrants already relatively settled here.

The ICE has regional offices in just about every major urban center.

- MICHAEL GONZALES, BORDER PATROL'S NEW ORLEANS SECTOR






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© 2007 The Sun Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.sunherald.com

They can't tell by just looking through their binoculars whether they're undocumented or not," Cintra said. "Why don't they stop a van full of black people? They could be from Jamaica and be undocumented. Why not a van full of white people? They could be from Russia and be undocumented. They only stop cars and vans full of people that are Latinos."

Maybe because over 95% of illegal aliens are Latinos!!?? Secondly I have never seen a van full of black or white people that wasn't a church bus. Logic sure frustrates these OBL'ers!

If it look like a duck.
Quacks like a duck.
Walk likes a duck.
Fly like a duck.
Odds are it is a illegal duck.

"There's a number of different things that they look for," Gonzales said. "We still have to have the probable cause."

And, post 9-11, probable cause should INCLUDE the gut instincts of our officers of law.

First - they're not "immigrants" if their PAPERWORK isn't in order...they're ILLEGAL ALIENS.

GREYPARROT
that's the prettiest bird you've put up yet....How sweet!

How do they know who is being pulled over? are they following them around all day? I don't think so!! their just trying to make a lucky guess. Well try again, we need proof, thats the American way, you do not get to guess!!

Keep enforcing our laws!!!

GREYPARROT
that's the prettiest bird you've put up yet....How sweet!

Yeah, I like that drawing too. My wonderful, and very silly grey, Katie, loves to hang upside down like that (swinging like a mad woman) while practicing her new verbal or song skills. It is hysterical.

Originally Posted by greyparrot

GREYPARROT
that's the prettiest bird you've put up yet....How sweet!

Yeah, I like that drawing too. My wonderful, and very silly grey, Katie, loves to hang upside down like that (swinging like a mad woman) while practicing her new verbal or song skills. It is hysterical.

Why not post a video of Katie singing?

Originally Posted by greyparrot

GREYPARROT
that's the prettiest bird you've put up yet....How sweet!

Yeah, I like that drawing too. My wonderful, and very silly grey, Katie, loves to hang upside down like that (swinging like a mad woman) while practicing her new verbal or song skills. It is hysterical.

Be careful! I had one that LOVED to swing to some heavy rock music. So, being innocent, I'd play it everyday for him and especially show him off for company.

Well, one day I put it on for company- playing it over and over as everyone was amazed and he swung so furiously that he croaked! Right there in front of us...........poof! fell off the swing dead as a doornail.

A vanload of 15 Latino immigrants was pulled over

It was probably a Chevrolet Astro, and was either riding 2 inches off the ground or the headlights were pointing to the sky.

The border patrol knows what they are looking for. They stopped me once when I was going through the checkpoint on the 15 freeway in Temecula because my Aerostar was so loaded down when I was moving.



SEE THIS YOU-TUBE VIDEO

Coyote Van Lines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXG4Oxy5d6c