ICE Agents pressured to meet arrest quota

[Terminator]

LANGLEY PARK, Md. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 24 Hispanics at a convenience store in Baltimore two years ago after their supervisor told them to "bring more bodies" because they were behind their annual quota of 1,000 arrests per team, according to an ICE report released Wednesday.
The immigration rights group CASA de Maryland, which has accused ICE of racial profiling in the 2007 raid, released the agency's internal investigation report and said it shows that the agents acted improperly.
The report contradicts some sworn declarations made by ICE agents involved in the sweep, prompting the agency's Acting Assistant Secretary John Torres to ask for an investigation into inconsistencies, ICE spokeswoman Ernestine Fobbs said Wednesday. Meanwhile, CASA officials have called on Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to review the agency's enforcement policies.
"Government agents should not be in the business of judging people based on the color of their skin, clothing and employment, which is what seems to have occurred here," the Rev. Simon Bautista Betances, vice president of CASA's board of directors said Wednesday.
CASA officials have charged that ICE agents ignored blacks and whites at the 7-Eleven store as they rounded up all of the Hispanics, even crossing the street to detain Hispanics waiting at a bus stop.
Soon after the raid, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) asked for an investigation into whether the ICE officers racially profiled the people they arrested. ICE's internal probe found the allegations to be unsubstantiated, Fobbs said.
"I have confidence that the new Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will fairly address this and other immigration issues," Mikulski said in an e-mailed statement in response to Wednesday's report.
Of the 24 men arrested in the raid, one proved that he was in the country legally, 19 were deported or voluntarily returned to their native countries and four remain in immigration proceedings, said Justin Cox, an attorney with CASA representing some of the men.
The ICE agents involved in the raid are part of the agency's fugitive operations program, which tracks down violent criminals living in the country illegally. Agency records from the program show that beginning in 2004, the teams were assigned to arrest at least 125 fugitive immigrants. In 2006, each team's quota was increased to 1,000 fugitive arrests.
"Our current enforcement of the immigration policy based on quotas lead to the separation of families and civil rights violations," said Gustavo Torres, CASA's executive director. "The evidence speaks for itself."
The debate over the raid centers on whether the agents had probably cause to detain the men or whether agents targeted them simply because they were Hispanic.
In sworn declarations, some officers said they stopped at the 7-Eleven to take a break after several hours of arresting fugitive immigrants in neighboring counties. When the agents arrived, they said Hispanic day laborers surrounded their vehicles asking for work and, when questioned, admitted they were in the country unlawfully.
However, in the report, some officers later told ICE investigators that the men mumbled or said nothing when asked about their status. Some also said that their supervisor had instructed them to beef up their arrests, the report said.
Cox said some of the day laborers testified that agents did not ask them about their status and ignored non-Hispanics passing through the store.
"I think that this validates all the concerns that the immigrant rights community has been expressing for the past couple of years," Cox said.

[Retdetsgt]

I have no problem with profiling if you're looking for illegals, but anytime you have quotas for anything in police work, you're asking for trouble. You know who's doing the job and who isn't without bullshit quotas. That just asks for bum arrests.

[Twan007]

hell - they don't have to profile... come visit down here, we've got plenty you can make quota on...

[Car 4]

Profiling, my ass. The census says there are 30 million people of hispanic descent in this country. (about 10% of our population) Ice says that there are from 12 to 20 million illegal people of hispanic descent in this country.

If every other person is illegal, how much profiling can there be.


Car 4

[lewisipso]

I have my own view of profiliing anyway.

[MacLean]

How do you make a "bum arrest" for immigration?

You is illegal, or you isn't.

[Retdetsgt]

How do you make a "bum arrest" for immigration?

You is illegal, or you isn't.

You start bringing in people that aren't illegal. Not every hispanic person who doesn't speak good English is here illegally.

I knew people in Texas when I was a kid that were third generation Americans and still couldn't speak English.

My point though was that quotas are a both lousy and lazy way of supervising.

[MacLean]

You start bringing in people that aren't illegal. Not every hispanic person who doesn't speak good English is here illegally.

I knew people in Texas when I was a kid that were third generation Americans and still couldn't speak English.

My point though was that quotas are a both lousy and lazy way of supervising.

I could see how that "could" happen, but anyone who is here legally has documentation. I'm quite intimately familiar with that documentation, as my wife and I walked through the entire process to her citizenship here in the United States.

Some sort of screening process on the arrest should eliminate that problem from becoming likely, I should think.

In general, I agree with you about quotas - in this instance I'm not as solid.

We have to be able to demonstrate these laws are being enforced. If they need more staff, or are being lazy, we have to find it and fix it.

[Retdetsgt]

I could see how that "could" happen, but anyone who is here legally has documentation. I'm quite intimately familiar with that documentation, as my wife and I walked through the entire process to her citizenship here in the United States.

But as far as I know, there is no law requiring people to carry ID or documentation with them every time they go out of the house. Other than a driver's license, I carrying nothing to show I'm a U.S. Citizen. And if I'm not driving my car, there is no requirement that I carry that. And when I was younger, I passed for hispanic quite easily.

Although we don't see it much up here in the NW, in the SW there are a lot of hispanics who are not only legal, but born here. It would be easy for an overzealous agent to round up people who are perfectly legal just because they didn't take their documentation when they walked to the grocery store or worse yet, not have documentation other than a US birth certificate.

Rounding up illegals at work places would be easier, the employer would have to have SS info and the like to show they're legal.

[Bob Loblaw]

It would be easy for an overzealous agent to round up people who are perfectly legal just because they didn't take their documentation when they walked to the grocery store or worse yet, not have documentation other than a US birth certificate.

Seriously, you've got a great point, Sarge...As the resident Spanish speaker on my shift, I run into dudes all the time who have licenses and were born here that speak horrible english because that's not the language used in the home, at church, with friends or in the workplace. Just because someone's latino and hardly speaks englsh doesn't necessarily mean they're illegal.

[pgg]

While I don't agree with the quotas, I think if they want more arrests they should come to my neck of the woods. They could have several thousand arrests within hours.

[Retdetsgt]

Seriously, you've got a great point, Sarge...As the resident Spanish speaker on my shift, I run into dudes all the time who have licenses and were born here that speak horrible english because that's not the language used in the home, at church, with friends or in the workplace. Just because someone's latino and hardly speaks englsh doesn't necessarily mean they're illegal.

I grew up in Texas and most of the kids I played with were Mexican until I started first grade. When I was little, I spoke Spanish probably better than I spoke English. Unfortunately, it gradually went away and now speaking is just about gone and comprehension is terribly weak. After I started school, I hung around Anglo kids mostly and until just recently there weren't many Hispanics in Oregon. The best I could do when interviewing someone, if the interpreter wasn't a cop, I could pick up on whether or not the interpreter was lying. But that was about it.

The only thing worse than working an L.A. gang style homicide was working one involving illegal Hispanics..... I had two, both unsolved and probably never will be. Not because of the language barrier, but everyone, including the victim's family were afraid of la migra.

But most of the parents of the kids I played with were migrant farm workers and usually the "crew leader" was the only adult that could speak English at all. But that's not something the people up here in the NW are familiar with. I suspect a good many of the Hispanics up around here are illegal.

[IndianaFuzz]

But as far as I know, there is no law requiring people to carry ID or documentation with them every time they go out of the house. Other than a driver's license, I carrying nothing to show I'm a U.S. Citizen. And if I'm not driving my car, there is no requirement that I carry that. And when I was younger, I passed for hispanic quite easily.

Here if you are out in a public place, you are legally supposed to have identification with you. So that solves one problem right there.

Our problem here is that many officers would rather avoid the hassle of messing with arresting an illegal alien. Since it's not as big of a problem here yet (though it is growing), my agency just isn't used to dealing with it, so many just avoid it.

[Retdetsgt]

Here if you are out in a public place, you are legally supposed to have identification with you. So that solves one problem right there.

Whoa, that's a little big brotherish. What age does that requirement that start? I thought only communist and facist governments required that. What if the person doesn't drive nor has a government issued ID? Are they forced to go get one to walk to the grocery store?

Sorry, but to me that's right up there with national ID cards. Gun registration is bad enough.

[Five-0]

I'm all for a National ID card as long as it is free, and you have to present it to vote.

[MacLean]

Here if you are out in a public place, you are legally supposed to have identification with you. So that solves one problem right there.

Cite?

I think Retdetsgt has a point - there is no legal requirement for a US Citizen to carry ID, except when driving, etc...

You are legally required to carry ID if you are here as a resident alien, visiting alien, etc.

Perhaps one of our federal brothers on here can be more specific, but I do recall my wife being instructed that she was always to have her resident alien card in her possession.

I'm sort of rethinking this - there has to be a way to get it done and avoid the problems.

[Retdetsgt]

I'm all for a National ID card as long as it is free, and you have to present it to vote.

There are other ways to prove citizenship to vote. I have a state voter's registration card that shows I proved I was a citizen of the is country. That's no worse than a driver's license. A National ID card is right out of Stalin's playbook. What's next, will you have to prove that you own and legally bought any gun you carry anytime you're asked? I don't want that friggin' door opened. The government interfers with my life more than enough now.

[Retdetsgt]

Perhaps one of our federal brothers on here can be more specific, but I do recall my wife being instructed that she was always to have her resident alien card in her possession.

If she already hasn't, once she gets her citizenship, should she be required to carry the papers? I wonder if they told her that because of the law or that it was just a good idea?

Oregon just recently required people to prove citizenship before getting a DL. If I leave my police ID at home, I have no way to prove I'm a citizen. I could very well be a Canadian or a foreign national who speaks English well who got an Oregon DL before the change.

Like Benjamin Franklin said, If you give up your rights to have security, soon you'll have neither.

As cops, it's easy to get jaded and not see the other side of the issue. For instance, nobody's going to search my house without a search warrant. Even though I have nothing illegal here, I have the right to withhold consent as does everyone else. If we push the taking away of rights, someday we could be on the other end of the spectrum.

[countybear]

In the news today...

ICE Agents rounded up and questioned 300 blonde-haired, blue-eyed, overweight male plumbers named "Bob" to determine their immigration status. After finding them all legally present in the United States, the operation is being considered one of the worst wastes of manpower and taxpayer dollars ever...

[Xiphos]

But as far as I know, there is no law requiring people to carry ID or documentation with them every time they go out of the house. Other than a driver's license, I carrying nothing to show I'm a U.S. Citizen. And if I'm not driving my car, there is no requirement that I carry that. And when I was younger, I passed for hispanic quite easily.

Immigrants are fingerprinted which is easy enough to check. Also the law is that immigrants must carry their Resident Alien card on them.