Thread: POLL : SUN HERALD QUESTION ON BORDER PATROL STOPS :CLOSED

http://forums.sunherald.com/n/mb/messag ... 9.1&ctx=11

The border patrol recently pulled over a van of 15 Latinos, finding that 10 did not have proper documentation. What do you think of the Border Patrol's actions along I-10?


It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1461 votes (57%)

It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1105 votes (43%)

2566 people have voted so far

Your vote was It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants on 1/31/2007 10:36 pm

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'Driving brown' tactic blasted

Border Patrol claims it isn't racial profiling
By JOSHUA NORMAN
SUN HERALD



TIM ISBELL/SUN HERALD

A Border Patrol agent watches eastbound traffic on Interstate 10 Tuesday morning near the Hancock-Harrison county line. Accusations have been made that the Border Patrol are practicing racial profiling by stopping drivers of Latino descent.
Poll: What do you think of the Border Patrol's actions on I-10?
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

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

8749.1

The border patrol recently pulled over a van of 15 Latinos, finding that 10 did not have proper documentation. What do you think of the Border Patrol's actions along I-10?

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1556 votes (58%)

It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1135 votes (42%)

2691 people have voted so far

Your vote was It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants on 1/31/2007 10:36 pm

The border patrol recently pulled over a van of 15 Latinos, finding that 10 did not have proper documentation. What do you think of the Border Patrol's actions along I-10?

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1560 votes (58%)
It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1151 votes (42%)


2271 people have voted so far

The border patrol recently pulled over a van of 15 Latinos, finding that 10 did not have proper documentation. What do you think of the Border Patrol's actions along I-10?

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1579 votes (58%)
It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1159 votes (42%)


2738 people have voted so far

Your vote was It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants on 1/31/2007 10:59 pm

My votes in. Thanks, Skip.

I think someone is pushing the numbers, as they are changing fast. If the poll stays up long enough i know we can push the numbers longer.

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1658 votes (58%)

It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1209 votes (42%)

2867 people have voted so far

I just voted 25 times

I put two shortcuts on my desktop. one to clean cookies and one for this poll.

I can vote about once every 10 seconds. Some who is voting against me must be getting pissed as the percentages stopped changing for him. LOL



It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
1797 votes (58%)

It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1300 votes (42%)


3097 people have voted so far

This poll is highly inaccurate. I thought the results looked off so I tested it to be sure. Each person that wants to can vote over and over again to distort the results.

It appears that someone has done that for the illegal alien side of the coin by the looks of the numbers.

W

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
2138 votes (59%)
It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1515 votes (41%)

3653 people have voted so far

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
3165 votes (65%)

It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1681 votes (35%)


4846 people have voted so far

They went to sleep now. i wish i had more time but I have to leave for work. I had two shortcuts on my desktop. One to clean "Cookie" and one to vote. I notice that the OBL people have been more active in message boards and blogs lately. yeah Socialism!

R/ Skip

It's racial profiling and that's wrong.
3165 votes (65%)
It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants
1740 votes (35%)


4905 people have voted so far

Your vote was It's an effective means of targeting undocumented immigrants on 2/1/2007 7:36 am