POLL: Should police report undocumented immigrants?

NBC-San Diego ^ | 12/06/2003

[facedown]

Should police around the country report any undocumented aliens they come across?
Choice	Votes	Percentage of 664 Votes
Yes, always	611	92%
Yes, if they have broken a law	33	5%
No	20	3%

[jimt]

Bump.

[Barnacle]

Hmmm... How should we interpret those numbers?

[FITZ]

I think it depends --- the police shouldn't go looking for them, but if they come across them committing any other kind of crime like DWI, shoplifting, panhandling, public indecency --- then definitely they need to be deported.

[yoe]

Should law enforcement enforce the law? Hmmm, tough choice.

BUMP!

[Ima Lurker]

Why shouldn't the police go looking for them? They are here illegally....they have already broken the law and continue to do so everyday they are here.

[FITZ]

I don't think the police should go looking for them. For one ---- where are they going to look? How would they find them? I don't want the police showing up at my house doing a search for illegals who aren't there. I don't want road blocks where the police can demand to see your birth certificate. They can get most illegals out by stopping felony document fraud, deporting those who are committing other crimes and stop giving out every kind of handout to them.

[FITZ]

I think also the police could report the situations where there are 5 or 6 families living in housing zoned for one family ---- that's a very common situation in high immigrant areas. It's common to see 3 or 4 different families living in single-wide 2 or 3 bedroom mobile homes and it's obvious it's illegals.

[Cultural Jihad]

It's a Federal issue, not a local law enforcement issue. Your local police do not have the authority to arrest someone for, say, smuggling contraband cigars and whiskey in an airport, or checking that a ship's captain is licensed to pilot a ship in U.S. waters, or whether someone at a National Park snuck in without paying the park's entrance fee.

[Ima Lurker]

You make some good points. If we were really serious about illegal immigration I have no doubt we could put a rather large dent in it. But alas, our leaders are not ready for that yet. I shudder to think what will get them ready.

[Cultural Jihad]

I shudder to think what will get them ready.

LOL! Thanks for the chuckle!

[breakem]

I'm sure someone will correct me if I don't have this right.

The penal code in Calif requires police to report persons they believe are illegal to the INS.

The LAPD has a policy that they do not do this.

Who arrests the Chief for this law violation?

[breakem]

regarding your 29, from the Cal Penal Code

834b. (a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.

(b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following:

(1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status.

(2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States.

(3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal status and provide any additional information that may be requested by any other public entity.

(c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly prohibited.

834c. (a) (1) In accordance with federal law and the provisions of this section, every peace officer, upon arrest and booking or detention for more than two hours of a known or suspected foreign national, shall advise the foreign national that he or she has a right to communicate with an official from the consulate of his or her country, except as provided in subdivision (d). If the foreign national chooses to exercise that right, the peace officer shall notify the pertinent official in his or her agency or department of the arrest or detention and that the foreign national wants his or her consulate notified.

(2) The law enforcement official who receives the notification request pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be guided by his or her agency's procedures in conjunction with the Department of State Guidelines Regarding Foreign Nationals Arrested or Detained in the United States, and make the appropriate notifications to the consular officers at the consulate of the arrestee.

(3) The law enforcement official in charge of the custodial facility where an arrestee subject to this subdivision is located shall ensure that the arrestee is allowed to communicate with, correspond with, and be visited by, a consular officer of his or her country.

[Cultural Jihad]

Thanks for the post, but the statutes you listed relate to law enforcement and INS dealings with already-arrested individuals, which is not the topic of the poll.

[Cultural Jihad]

Who arrests the Chief for this law violation?

Why not you, breakem? Don't be a salon Bolsheviki, an armchair revolutionary looking for others to do your dirty deeds you want done. You might even be able to get a fund going for the posting of bail after committing false-imprisonment!

[Dante3]

YES: 92%

These illegal aliens pose the greatst threat to our security. We should have our military on both of our borders, not in forgeign countries. And all of these criminals should be rounded up and deported.

[breakem]

I agree with your examplesin 29 unless the area would be within a city limit. Probably not apply to a national park. I do know that if a federal crime is committed at the airport in LA the police department can make an arrest because it is within the city of LA. The penal code also authorizes the cops to arrest on public offenses within the city limits.

The LAPD has a policy not to act on the citizenship status of those they detain or arrest. They hold them the precinct cells until they release or transfer to county jail. They are being challenged on this POLICY. The decision to release or transfer is based upon the possible crime irrespective of the crime of how they entered the country. The jails are under the jurisdiction of the county.

Your comments about the chief is your usual............

[TankerKC]

I have a brother and two sisters who are cops in Carlsbad. The last I heard, the cops in SD County don't report illegals to the Border Patrol/INS. Is that a nationwide policy?

[FITZ]

That's just it --- they can easily do some things to get rid of the worst problem immigrants --- but instead the government is going to officially provide free health care for them with $1 billion in the new Medicare package. In the day of fast computers, they could clean up the Social Security number database and deport those committing felony document fraud but instead they're thinking about giving them Social Security benefits if they committed felony document fraud for at least 18 months.

There are different types of illegals --- some are very serious problems, some are much lesser problems. The guy over in my neighbor's yard whose kids are back in Mexico and who is raking the yard for $20 but plans to return home at some point (and would likely go back if sick or injured) isn't the same problem as the ones bringing in large families for the taxpayers to support and who are dealing in document theft and a lot of other serious crimes or the illegal coming over 9 months pregnant trying to have a US citizen baby that she can collect welfare and food stamps with for the rest of her life.

The worst illegals would be easily gotten rid of --- if the government cared to do it's job at all.

[The Coopster]

Bwak! I was vote number 666.....I hate that!