Law that allows profiling of illegal aliens already exist;
Federal Immigration and Nationality Act
Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii)
State and local law enforcement officials have the general power to investigate and arrest violators of federal immigration statutes without prior INS knowledge or approval, as long as they are authorized to do so by state law. There is no extant federal limitation on this authority. The 1996 immigration control legislation passed by Congress was intended to encourage states and local agencies to participate in the process of enforcing federal immigration laws. Immigration officers and local law enforcement officers may detain an individual for a brief warrantless interrogation where circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the U.S. Specific facts constituting a reasonable suspicion include evasive, nervous, or erratic behavior; dress or speech indicating foreign citizenship; and presence in an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens. Hispanic appearance alone is not sufficient. Immigration officers and police must have a valid warrant or valid employer's consent to enter workplaces or residences.
One good thing about Arizona passing this bill is that illegal aliens will be leaving Arizona going to other states forcing them to pass the same bill.
Um...No. You are not quoting federal law. You are quoting a legal analysis from an anti-imigration website that certain dishonest people have been spreading around the internet. There is a full article on this story here: azcapitoltimes.com/azpolicywonk/2009/10/14/sheriff-joe-a-non-existent-us-law-and-the-next-crime-sweep/
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Sheriff Joe, a non-existent U.S. law and the next crime sweep
October 14th, 2009
You said some nasty things about me. I take it that way.
Thats how my conversation with Sheriff Joe started on Oct. 14. He was offended that I had said on television that he was trying to use a non-existent federal law to justify the continuation of his crime-suppression sweeps.
After watching Arpaio on the Glenn Beck Show and CNN with Rick Sanchez last week, I was somewhat puzzled that he was upset with me particularly. Seems like those two national personalities beat him up quite a bit more than I did. And I was only on a local program, the Horizon Journalists Roundtable.
Indeed, I had called him out for citing a law that seems to exist only in the minds of anti-illegal immigration groups. In fact, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the document he has been citing during press conferences and national TV spots has no place in federal code. In other words,
it doesnt exist.
It all started a week ago when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reconstructed an agreement with local law enforcement that essentially stripped the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office of its power to enforce illegal immigration violations under the 287(g) program. While the new agreement allows Arpaio and other sheriffs to check the immigration status of those who are arrested for other crimes, it was intended to stop him from detaining people on the street to check whether they are in the country illegally.
After the new 287(g) agreement was struck, Arpaio called a press conference to blast the feds and to say that he would continuing business as usual. In fact, he said he was planning to do another sweep in two weeks. Now, he says hes going to do the sweep on Friday.
But during the press conference on Oct. 6 reporters asked Arpaio what authority he would use to continue rounding up illegal immigrants on the streets. He said there are a couple of state laws that permit it and other federal statutes that provide that type of authority. He then passed out a document that he said was a federal law that allows his agency to detain an individual for a brief warrantless interrogation where circumstances create a reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the U.S.
The document Arpaio personally passed out at a press conference and said was federal statute can be found here: azcapitoltimes.com/wp-files/pdfs/section8.pdf
The document, at first glance, appeared to be taken from a section of U.S. Code. At the top of the page, it listed a title and chapter numbers, as well as references to subsections.
But about midway through the text, it outlined a set of circumstances that justify such brief warrantless interrogations, and thats where things started to get odd. Heres an excerpt: Specific facts constituting a reasonable suspicion include evasive, nervous, or erratic behavior; dress or speech indicating foreign citizenship; and presence in an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens.
Reporter Jeremy Duda brought the document to my attention, and both of us were a skeptical that the federal government would essentially grant authority to interrogate people on the basis of what they were wearing, or their speech patterns. One friend of mine jokingly asked whether a mariachi suit would justify questioning. And what about the reference to an area known to contain a concentration of illegal aliens? Could that be taken to mean Arizona in general?
So Jeremy dug a little deeper. He read through the section of code that Arpaios document referenced (Section 8, USC 1324). He couldnt find any citation of that text. He continued searching records, and later asked ICE officials, immigration attorneys and the Department of Justice to clarify whether that was, as Arpaio had said, included in federal law. Everyone said it wasnt.
Another editor and I read through actual U.S. code and also couldnt find any reference to the text of the document Arpaio had handed out. We were perplexed.
Jeremy followed up with a story on Oct. 7 that outlined these developments, which can be found here: azcapitoltimes.com/blog/2009/10/06/arpaio-blasts-feds-vows-to-continue-immigration-enforcement/
Then, after our story was published (there was also an item in that afternoons Yellow Sheet Report) and a subsequent commentary was written in the East Valley Tribune, Arpaio cited the document as law on both CNN and FOX. Rick Sanchez was incredulous. Perhaps surprisingly, so was Glenn Beck.
Beck asked Arpaio to point to the specific law. Arpaio replied: If local law enforcement comes across some people who have an erratic or scared or whatever
theyre worried, and if they have their speech, what they look like - if they look like they just came from another country, we can take care of that situation.
Beck asked if that was profiling, and noted that the federal government doesnt allow profiling.
Arpaios again pointed to the non-existent federal law, saying Its in there. Its in there.
On CNN, Arpaio told Sanchez that the revocation of the 287(g) agreement really doesnt mean anything. He said it was just a contract, but its OK, Im still going to enforce the human smuggling.
Sanchez asked how the sheriff and his deputies know if someone they stop on the street is in the country illegally.
It has to do with their conduct, what type of clothes theyre wearing, their speech
a lot of variables involved, Arpaio said. Questioned further about how clothing can determine a persons status, Arpaio said, You look at the federal law. The federal law specifies, the speech the clothes the environment the erratic behavior, its right in the law.
An online search for the text Arpaio was citing revealed that the document existed - but not in federal code. It was plastered all over the websites of anti-illegal immigration groups.
One of the groups that had published the text, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, noted that it was only an analysis of federal law and offered a disclaimer that it was not to be used as a substitute for actual legal advice.
The website showing the overview published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform can be found here: fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersbcdd
So, this morning when I had a chance to interview Arpaio about all that had occurred, he insisted at first that the document was taken directly from U.S. Code. He said ICE had confirmed that the document was valid.
But after further discussion about our findings, Arpaio took a step back. He acknowledged that the document might not be part of federal law. He said, I thought it was a law. I dont know what you call it.
He went on to say that it really doesnt matter if its law or if its just an analysis, and said he has plenty of authority to continue the crime-suppression sweeps.
I still think theres a federal law out there that gives me the authority to do this, he said. I might not have the right one, but there is one out there.
Its still not clear what will happen when Arpaio attempts to conduct another sweep because ICE officials have been quiet about how theyll react and Arpaio says hell take the illegal immigrants to Border Patrol if he has to.
When they (ICE) wont take them, Ill take them to Border Patrol, he said. So lets see what happens now. How can you tell Border Patrol that you cant take them? If mine are illegal and they dont take them, are they going to take the other ones that they find?
We might not have to wait long for the answer; the next sweep is scheduled to happen in two days.
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Sorry. I am not allowed to post links yet, so you may need to fiddle a bit with them to get them to work if you are interested.
