Hispanics want rights on ICE
Adrian Sanchez
www.columbustelegram.com
Feb 20, 2007
SCHUYLER - A day after the raid on his home, which resulted in two broken doorways, Pastor Rudy De Leon was stopped Feb. 8 on U.S. Highway 30 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while traveling with two parishioners to church.
During the week of Feb. 5, ICE agents were in the area as part of “Operation Return To Sender.”
De Leon said he was transporting the two men so they could pray together during what was a difficult time for the entire Hispanic community.
“Members of my church were asking to go to church to pray because it was a difficult situation for the Hispanic community,” De Leon said with the assistance of a translator.
Agents began requesting identification from all three individuals, and when De Leon presented his driver's license, another form of ID was requested. “(They) asked me for another ID, and I showed them my residence card,” he said.
De Leon believes his vehicle was targeted because he and the passengers were “dark-skinned,” and he thinks agents violated his civil rights.
Tim Counts, spokesman for ICE, said agents were parked near a location suspected of housing a fugitive when they saw three men exit the property. Because one of the men appeared to be the fugitive, agents followed the vehicle and made “a perfectly legal stop of the car.”
The two men were arrested after agents discovered they were illegal aliens, Counts said.
The Rev. Paul Kasun, who works at the Benedictine Mission House, began distributing “Know Your Rights” flyers in response to the ICE operations conducted during the week.
The information was provided by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. It includes the statement, “if the police stop you, you do not have to show them any papers apart from your driver's license and car registration. The police should not ask you any questions about your legal status in this country.”
Counts said a second form of identification was requested by officers because a driver's license does not specify legal status.
“Agents did ask for a second piece of ID. They asked for evidence of legal status in U.S.,” he said, which is legal because ICE agents are “not the police.”
“Our job is to establish whether a person is in the country legally. Agents may continue to question until legal status is determined,” Counts said.
When asked what federal law gave the agents authority to request documentation confirming legal status, he said the agents have the authority to continue a line of questioning until the agent is confident the person is who they say they are, although he did say the process is subjective. He said officers receive extensive training in how to determine residency.
“Two people (in the car) admitted right away of illegally being in the country. It is logical to question the person driving the car and ask for some sort of evidence he was in the country legally,” Counts said. “Anyone who has a permanent resident card is required to carry it at all times.”
Some information included on the flyer, “whether here legally or not” or for citizens confronted by an immigration official, include the right to:
n ask to see a search warrant,
n not allow the official to enter the home,
n not answer questions, and
n not sign anything.
It also stated “officials cannot stop you just because you are Latino or because you have an accent.”
Kasun, who has been working with immigration issues since 1996, said people are happy to receive the information.
“They feel a little better, a little more at ease to know they have rights,” he said.
Kasun said it is not just illegals but also native, naturalized and those in the process of becoming citizens who are concerned about the way the raids are conducted.
“Luis (Lucar) is a legal person here, and he is upset. There are Mexican-Americans who are clearly upset as well,” he said. “There are a lot of Polish immigrants that are illegal, but we don't hear of Polish immigrants being arrested. Is it because they know a lot of Mexican immigrants are undocumented? Is it racial profiling? We don't want to disrupt our citizens. We want to establish trust.”
Lucar, who has previously been active in local issues facing the Hispanic community, said it is sad local leaders haven't addressed how the Hispanic community has been profiled or questioned the methods used during local and federal operations conducted through the week.
“Anyone, regardless of race, religion or legal status has rights in this country. The law has to be followed and in the correct way from law enforcement as well as the citizen side,” Lucar said. “I think there is evidence that the rights of immigrants were violated.”
Hispanics are easily targeted and stereotyped, he said, and assumptions are made simply because a person has a darker complexion.
“To some we all are criminals and are treated like that, which is completely wrong. You cannot assume that any person with dark skin color is legal or illegal. Law enforcement cannot just assume they are illegal or ask for ID because a person is Hispanic or looks Hispanic or doesn't speak English. That is illegal,” Lucar said. “I want to live in a safe place. I want my family to live in a safe place where I can raise my kids without drugs or criminals. I applaud and congratulate law enforcement efforts, but there are regulations they have to follow. We need to know both sides of the story. We need to know how they are doing it.”
Counts said officers recognize the majority of Hispanics in the U.S. are residing in the country legally, and it is unfortunate such confusion on the issue exists.
“The majority of Hispanics in American are not illegals. The majority are legal,” he said. “It is unfortunate such confusion persists because clearly a vast majority of people of Hispanic descent are here legally, and our officers are well aware of that.”
