Tucson cop files suit challenging immigration law

[havocmom]

Officer Martin H. Escobar, a 15 year veteran of Tucson Police Department, filed suit. BRAVO to this guy who showed a lot of courage of convictions. In light of the threats that forced Congressman Raul Grijalva to shut down his office, it was a pretty brave thing to do.

http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0d3a509c-9fb9-58c7-89cf-47db9f240bd9.html

...

"Hey, there's a lot of people lawfully who speak Spanish; there's a lot of people who speak with an accent," Martinez {Escobar's attorney, Richard Martinez}* said. "Those tell you that they're Latino or Hispanic or Mexican, but they don't tell you anything about their document status."

Any attempt to confirm immigration status when making contact with the public would "seriously impede law enforcement investigations and facilitate the successful commission of crimes in the United States," the suit claims.

Martinez noted that when police are called to an incident at a school, such as for a report of abuse or neglect, children who are in the country illegally would then need to have their immigration status checked despite federal protection from such queries by school officials.

...

"This doesn't help law enforcement, it hurts (it)," Martinez said. "Police officers always exercise discretion, but this statute takes away discretion."

* {info in italics my addition to clarify who was being quoted}

Hampers law enforcement; ah yes, it certainly does. Not unlike the agenda of Maricopa Sheriff Joe I'm a Bigot Clown and Proud of it Arpaio hampers law enforcement. One of the reasons the feds are investigating Joe is that business people were unhappy at slow response to crime when deputies were too busy harassing brown people to respond to crime reports. Some of those critical of Sheriff Joe found themselves targeted for some special treatment by his goons.

Tucson police officer Escobar has a firm grasp of realities of doing law enforcement work in the real world as opposed to the paranoid and hate filled world of the idiots in the state legislature and the one law enforcement administrator who puts bigotry ahead of rational thought.

If Escobar needs to raise fund for the law suit, I will contribute, and I will post about how you can too. He did not file the suit for the department. He acted alone and with a conviction we might want to support.

[mikita]

1. thanks for posting this k&r

[Echo In Light]

2. K/R

[WolverineDG]

3. Another AZ cop speaks out

Rick Flores is a friend of mine & a former sheriff, now works in Arizona. This is what he had to say on a local blog regarding the Juan Crow law:

http://quefregados.wordpress.com/2010/04/29/rick-flores-responds-from-arizona/

dg

[havocmom]

4. Thanks for posting that important 'boots on ground' perspective!

We need more of that to get legs and start explaining the situation and how out of touch the AZ winger pols are, and how little thinking things through they do. The pols are about venting and grandstanding for others who scream but never think.

I think this part of Mr. Flores' comment pretty much says it all:

...
Don’t get me wrong, we work and assist Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as a second line of defense. Any time we apprehend people violating state laws (i.e. trespassing, criminal mischief etc..) and we see that they’re undocumented, we call CBP and they take them away to process.

My questions are, how do we define “reasonable suspicion or probable cause to articulate whether they’re here illegally?” If they’re brown, dark hair, wearing a soccer shirt with the logo of Corona Beer, drinking a Topo-Chico mineral water and speaking Spanish, would that constitute reasonable suspicion or probable cause?

We’re not trained to look for those tell(tale) signs that federal agents have been trained and most recent updates; latest technology/training – that identifies fake passports, ID’s and/or other fraudulent documents used to sneak their way across.
...

I wish AZ cops well in their efforts to restore sanity where the legislature and governor have made insanity and hate the (temporary) law of the land of Arizona.

Keep wondering how long before the progressives in Pima County start up with the (only half) tongue-in-cheek movement to succeed from Arizona and create the 51st state, Baja Arizona. ;) It's been spoken about (in jest, sorta) from time to time over the years, when the fools and Maricopa County wingers do especially stupid things. Might be time to consider it again.

[WolverineDG]

5. I think Rick is now the chief of police in that town

don't quote me on it. ;)

but he is right about checking immigration status for those arrested on other crimes. If they're not here legally, LE contacts CBP, which puts an "immigration hold" on the person. Even if they can afford to bond out, they won't be released. If they're found not guilty of whatever they were charged with, they're turned over to CBP & put in deportation. If found guilty, they serve their sentence & upon release, are taken to CBP & deported.

dg

[havocmom]

6. And that practice is good, proper, and a cost saver for local P.D.s

While the law the bozos in Phoenix are, as Rick pointed out, an unfunded mandate (cost to local taxpayers) AND gonna cost bundle$ in law suits (again, cost to local taxpayers)