Maricopa county has new hotline to report illegal immigratio

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...tline0721.html

Sheriff unveils migrant hotline
Some fear enforcement push encourages racial profiling
Judi Villa and Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 21, 2007 12:00 AM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday launched a hotline for Valley residents to report information about undocumented immigrants.

Details of exactly how the hotline will work and which tips will merit further investigation have not been ironed out. Officials say they aren't sure how many and what types of calls will come in.

Still, Arpaio said deputies would investigate people only if they had "probable cause."





"We want evidence," Arpaio said. "We're not going to go on a street corner and round up a group of people because they look like they're from a foreign country."

The hotline is part of an expanded immigration enforcement plan Arpaio unveiled. In another part, about 160 sheriff's deputies, cross-trained to enforce immigration law, will saturate Valley cities and roadways to find and arrest those who are here illegally, the sheriff said. The deputies now have broad powers not only to question people about their immigration status during traffic stops, but also if they commit even a minor infraction, such as littering.

Arpaio stressed that people would only be questioned if deputies came across them "in the course of our duties."

The efforts come as Arizona officials have been trying to crack down on illegal immigration and on the heels of a new state law that would fine and threaten the licenses of businesses that knowingly employ undocumented workers. Experts say the federal government's failure to pass immigration reform is spurring more local governments to act on their own.

Payson's Town Council, for example, passed an ordinance in April that requires all its businesses to sign an affidavit stating that all employees are legal residents. Business owners who refuse to sign the affidavit won't receive a license, said Payson Mayor Bob Edwards.

In the Valley, members of the Phoenix Police Department and the Arizona Department of Public Safety also have completed Immigration and Customs Enforcement training and can act as federal officers. But those agencies say the intent is to break up human- and drug-smuggling rings and other border-related crime groups.

Arpaio began arresting undocumented immigrants in March 2006, targeting them under a controversial interpretation of the state's anti-human-smuggling laws. Since then, Arpaio has been expanding his efforts to turn the Sheriff's Office into "a full-fledged anti-immigration agency." On Monday, 64 ICE agents will be deputized.

"We want to go further," Arpaio said. "It's important to put the resources into this fight if you're serious about it."

The hotline is believed to be the first of its kind in the country, and some say it is troubling.

Although the hotline is supposed to field calls about criminal activity, like loads of immigrants being smuggled into the Valley, some critics said Friday they fear it opens the possibility that neighbors, former lovers and others also could turn each other in. Critics also wondered if it could lead to racial profiling.

"It makes every citizen, by proxy, an immigration cop," said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute's Office at New York University School of Law. "This hard-line (plan) is a direct line on vigilantism," he said.

Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox said she approves of Arpaio's enforcement plan, but not the hotline.

"I think a lot of innocent people will get caught up in this, just because their skin's brown," Wilcox said. "We just need to make sure we're not violating people's civil rights, or get into racial profiling. The county may open itself up to a lot of liabilities."

Arpaio insisted deputies would not engage in racial profiling but would target those contacted during routine patrols and investigations. He said he isn't encouraging people to turn in their neighbor's nanny, although he said, "Neighbors should be calling in when they see a crime."

The line is an effort to get residents "to join the fight," he said. "We can't do it by ourselves."

County Supervisor Don Stapley said Arpaio's plan is necessary to help reduce the flow of undocumented immigrants and the costs on local governments. The plan, he said, could become a model for other counties. "More power to him, I hope it helps," Stapley said.

Pretty simple:

ICE: 866.347.2423 24/7/365 !! :D

www.ICE.gov

:wink:

I think a lot of innocent people will get caught up in this, just because their skin's brown,"

Whats your point ? If they are legal why would that bother them ? don't they want to live in a safe community ?

He said he isn't encouraging people to turn in their neighbor's nanny, although he said

At this stage of the game YES I will report ANYBODY !!!!

The absolute gall of Tucson's County Atty Barbara LaWall, she needs to implement an equivalent process under AZ's new employer law and she said she was "thinking about a form that people would have to come to her office in person and fill out." MAKE IT AS DIFFICULT AS POSSIBLE TO REPORT BARBARA...

KPHO.com
Foes Nix Sheriff's Migrant Hotline
Critics Fear Racial Profiling; Others Laud New Tool

POSTED: 10:15 am PDT July 22, 2007
UPDATED: 5:34 pm PDT July 22, 2007

PHOENIX -- A hotline launched by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that encourages residents to report information about undocumented immigrants has some critics angry it could spur racial profiling.

The hotline, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, comes in the wake of several local and state initiatives designed to tackle issues left by the federal government's failure to pass immigration reform.

One of them is a new state law that imposes stiff penalties on businesses that intentionally hire undocumented workers.

Another is an ordinance passed July 2 by the Mesa City Council that empowers its police force to slap drivers with a parking ticket for stopping to pickup day laborers at two intersections that are well-known gathering spots

The hotline is meant to gather tips from the public about criminal activity, like human smuggling.

Within the first 18 hours of its operation, the hotline netted about 100 calls, ranging from reports of suspected drop houses to businesses hiring undocumented workers, sheriff's deputies said.

Sheriff Blasts Critics

Critics, like Elias Bermudez of Immigrants Without Borders, said Sheriff Joe Arpaio's tool will likely compromise civil rights.

"He is causing hardship and pain to people whose only crime they've committed is coming here undocumented to feed their families, and that's said," Bermudez said.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Arpaio downplayed racial profiling at two news briefings called to address the new program and stressed his deputies would only approach those targeted during normal investigations.

"We're not going to go out on a street corner and round up people because they look like they're from a foreign country," he said.

Arpaio also addressed another fear voiced by hotline opponents.

"Critics think people are going to report their neighbors," Arpaio said. "We didn't get anyone reporting their neighbors out of the 100 calls that initially came in," he said.

Deputies said they don't know yet how many calls the hotline will receive or what protocol they'll use to decide which tip to investigate.
http://www.kpho.com/print/13732134/detail.html

I have a family of illegals next door that bring up more illegals every summer, it is a drop house, I called ICE and nothing happened. When I called they had just returned with a van full of illegals that lived in the back yard until they got jobs and moved.

Our gov. isn't really going to do anything other than give us lip service.

it's a start in the right direction, anyway.