September 11 Digital Archive

Police enforcement of immigration law protested

Title

Police enforcement of immigration law protested

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-06-11

VTMBH Article: Edition

23

VTMBH Article: Article Order

1

VTMBH Article: Title

Police enforcement of immigration law protested

VTMBH Article: Author

María del Carmen Amado

VTMBH Article: Publication

Hoy

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Spanish

VTMBH Article: Translator

Hannah Emmerich

VTMBH Article: Section

briefs

VTMBH Article: Blurb

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

The Bush Administrations proposal to authorize local and state police to report immigration violations to Immigration and Nationalization Services (INS) faces opposition by immigrant rights groups.

If it is approved by the Department of Justice, the proposal will put racial profiling into effect and is expected to aggravate relations between immigrants and police. The new laws will revisit the historic distrust between the immigrant community and the INS, said Raúl Izaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza. The bill will debilitate the civil rights of millions of immigrants and cut short the work that we have done over years to improve this situation, Izaguirre added. He went on to say that legal immigrants and U.S. citizens will also be affected if they share similar ethnic characteristics as with those who are being persecuted by the complying INS agencies.

Under the existing laws, INS agents conduct routine checks of prisoners legal status; however the state and local police cannot arrest or detain people based on suspected immigration violations. If the new laws passed, police officers will be obligated to investigate the legal status of both detainees and crime victims.

We have worked for twenty years in the community to convince people not be afraid to report cases of domestic violence or abuse. Our work will be nullified in little time, and we, as police officers, will have to perform the duties of the INS, criticized Anthony Miranda, president of the Latino Officers Association. Miranda has helped to start campaigns to encourage immigrants to report crimes, without worrying that their status will endanger them. Our job is to help people, said Miranda.

The co-director of the Jersey City Police Department, Edgar Martínez, said that his agency had not been notified by the federal government of the approval of the new legislation. Before we do anything, we must receive orders from the District Attorney of New Jersey, David Samson, said Martínez. If the police stop someone on the street without proper immigration papers, the department will notify the INS and they will advise us on what to do with the detainees. He added that upon receiving orders from the federal government to conduct investigations on the legal status of detained immigrants, we will have to do it.

A recent poll of Latinos granted citizenship since 1995 revealed that 77 percent object to the police enforcing immigration laws. We all want to feel safe and for our country to be safe, but we also believe that the priorities of law enforcement officials should be to detain the real terrorist suspects, and these laws will only work against that goal, said Izaguirre.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-06-11

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

118

Citation

“Police enforcement of immigration law protested,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1373.