Residents in N.M. town accuse sheriff of illegal raids

CHAPARRAL, N.M. — It was 10:30 p.m. when a sheriff's deputy started banging on Maria's front door.

Startled, she came to the door and answered his demands to know who called 911. No one, said Maria, a 50-year-old illegal immigrant who asked that her last name not be published. But the deputy, whom she couldn't name, insisted he had to come in and look through the house.

Maria told the deputy to stay outside. But he barged in with relatives who came over to see what the commotion was about, she said. He searched the house without a warrant and questioned Maria and her relatives, including children, for nearly three hours.

Eventually, he left. But Maria was arrested in a traffic stop the next day when she couldn't produce a social security card during the stop.

The Otero County Sheriff's Department is routinely demanding proof of citizenship from residents either in traffic stops or at their homes, residents and their advocates say. The department has added extra patrols using a federal grant designed to help local authorities in border-area communities combat crime. More than a dozen people have been arrested and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol since mid-August.

But civil rights advocates say deputies or police have no right to demand such identification and certainly no right to enter someone's home without a warrant or probable cause. An expert in immigration law called the Chaparral raids "bizarre" and a U.S. Border Patrol official said local authorities don't have immigration-enforcement powers.

"For any law enforcement officer to go in any home, they should do it legally, either through having a search warrant or by permission of the people inside the houses," said Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso. "In these cases, several times, the sheriff's didn't have a search warrant, a court order, or permission. There is a perception that the Constitution does not exist at the border. The sheriff actually has ignored basic constitutional rights."

Other local police agencies, including the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, have been accused of using similar tactics in the past.

In Panama City Beach, Fla., sheriff's deputies formed an Illegal Alien Task Force whose patrol cars parked at construction sites in force and arrested any worker who ran away.

Fifteen people in New York, including seven U.S. citizens, are suing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, claiming it violated the Fourth Amendment during home raids there in 2006.

Norbert Sanchez, undersheriff in Otero County, said he found it hard to believe that a deputy would spend three hours at a resident's house.

"There's no way a deputy would sit there for three hours," Sanchez said of his squad of 36 deputies who patrol 6,000 square miles of southern New Mexico. "They are usually going from one call to the next."

Irma, a 47-year-old woman who asked that her last name not be used, said a deputy came to her house when someone complained that her dog was loose and demanded proof of citizenship.

"They asked if I was in the United State legally," said Irma, who declined to tell a reporter her immigration status. "I had a valid ID, but they just asked for a social security card and said they would arrest me." After she signed a citation charging her $150 for the loose dog — which she says wasn't hers — the deputy left without arresting her.

Raul Hernandez said after he was pulled over for a traffic violation a deputy demanded that he show a social security card, even after he showed his driver's license.

Sanchez said deputies have patrolled Chaparral looking for scofflaws. He said they aren't trying to enforce federal immigration law, but they will call the Border Patrol if they believe someone is an illegal immigrant.

The extra patrols are funded under Operation Stonegarden, a federally funded border security initiative to help local agencies curb crime in border communities, Sanchez said.

"We don't enforce immigration laws, we enforce county and state statutes," Sanchez said. "We are not going down there targeting or profiling these people. We do the same operations in (other) parts of the county."

Sanchez said deputies have asked some residents for social security cards, but only as a means of identification.

But Kathleen Campbell Walker, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said social security cards are only a work authorization document, not a legally valid identification card.

And a Border Patrol spokesman in Washington said the deputies are not allowed to use Operation Stonegarden to seek out illegal immigrants.

Operation Stonegarden only allows local agencies to fund overtime shifts for routine operations, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Ramon Rivera said.

"They have the right to stop and question someone's identity" when pursuing a criminal suspect, Rivera said, speaking in general about local authorties' rights. "They have the right to hold someone for the Border Patrol to help identify these people. Under Stonegarden, they have no immigration authority. We do not grant immigration authority to them."

Walker said immigration enforcement by local authorities isn't new or unusual, but typically, a local government will first pass a law aimed at rooting out illegal immigrants.

Chaparral and Otero County have no such laws, making the deputies' actions "bizarre," Walker said.

"What we do is verify that we are speaking to the right person," Sanchez said. "We're just down there enforcing the laws."

And if deputies have evidence that someone is an illegal immigrant, it is their duty to detain them and notify the Border Patrol, Sanchez said.

"We do detain illegal immigrants, for the simple fact that Border Patrol generally doesn't patrol Chaparral unless there are doing something over there," Sanchez said. "We call the Border Patrol and they generally send a unit down to meet with us."

The Border Network for Human Rights is handing out rights cards to residents in Chaparral and reminding them that they don't have to speak to police without a lawyer and deputies cannot come into their homes without permission or a warrant.

Try this for a solution:

"Apr 20th, 2007 by The Patriot

Illegal immigration has finally been noticed by the media and even by some politicians. After fifty years of neglect and incompetent management, we can finally all agree that illegal immigration is a problem that must be dealt with right now. The problem is so urgent even the illegal aliens consider it a problem.

While considerable blame is being tossed about, and rhetoric parsed, the “solutions” being offered for consideration are flawed and unworkable. Any country’s immigration laws should meet a basic criteria whereby the guest country and it’s people benefit from immigration. Our country is no exception.

Most importantly, any solution to illegal immigration shouldn’t compromise the Constitution or the rule of law.

Any legislation must uphold the rule of law. That is to say everyone must be treated equally by the legislation and no one should be above the law. This means that under no circumstances, any person or business that has broken our laws, should be excused for doing so.

The legislation must meet Constitutional standards. Legislation must not allow for a new class of residents with partial Constitutional rights. Either you are a citizen or not. We cannot have a sub class of residents such as guest workers with partial rights.

All of the so called immigration solutions to date do not meet this simple criteria. Irrespective of the fact that we pay people handsome sums of money to run this country and provide sensible policies for dealing with our challenges, I a mere citizen, will offer a solution that contains the necessary ingredients.

Ten Point Plan to End Illegal Immigration

The border must be controlled with a wall and/or very intense (military) enforcement there. I prefer a wall. The San Diego wall proves that it works. The flow of illegal entrants must be stopped at the border for the sake of eliminating illegal immigration and strengthening national security.

Severe work place enforcement must begin immediately. Employers are to be fined in amounts that exceed the normal costs of doing business. They must also face prison time in addition to monetary fines. The costs of hiring illegal workers must exceed the benefits for hiring illegal workers. The resulting perp walks must be widely publicized and these traitorous businesses must be viewed for what they are.

Any hope of Amnesty must be eliminated. Amnesty is as strong a magnet for illegal aliens as are jobs and free social services. There cannot be any amnesty for the 30 million illegal aliens already here. Amnesty would put this group of people above our laws. To maintain the rule of law, the principle upon which this country was built, these millions of aliens must face the consequences of their illegal actions.

There also cannot be a guest worker program that allows for a path to citizenship. People are to immigrate to this country because they want to be a part of it not because they want to work here. We are a nation not a factory and it’s time we run the country this way.

All social benefits awarded to illegal aliens must be completely eliminated. No free health care (except life and death situations), no free education, no welfare, no social benefits of any kind.

I suggest a phase in period of a year for the elimination of these benefits. That will do a couple of things. First it will ameliorate the suddenness of this enforcement technique, allowing aliens a full year to get their affairs in order before leaving. Second it will make the exodus more orderly by allowing illegal alien, school children to finish up instead of abruptly being taken out of school. Thirdly, it shields this action from the accusation of being overly harsh.

The anchor baby law needs to either be interpreted properly or changed not to allow anchor babies. The anchor baby phenomenon isn’t due to a flawed Constitutional Amendment, rather it’s due to erroneous interpretation by inept and agenda pushing justices. Either way, whether it be proper interpretation or new legislation, there must be an end to anchor baby status. If need be, a special Supreme Court session should be called for the sole purpose of clarifying the true meaning of the 14th Amendment.

Chain migration must be eliminated. Chain migration is a phenomenon due to families being allowed to bring in other family members from foreign countries. If we are to maintain chain migration, it should be limited to immediate family members only, instead of cousins of cousins etc. Chain migration is the equivalent of a never ending stream of immigrants. A law must be passed that says “if you are caught in this country illegally, you will never be eligible for legal immigration or a guest worker program. This will provide an incentive for illegal aliens to leave before getting caught here illegally. Spot raids and work place raids must continue and be stepped up. This sends the message that our laws are being enforced. It’s like the speed trap on the highway that keeps everyone driving at the speed limit. You slow down when you know you can get caught. The same principle holds true with illegal immigration.

Aiding and abetting laws need to be toughened and also enforced to the maximum extent. This includes sanctuary city policies that coddle the lawless. Any city that has sanctuary policies will forfeit all federal funding until and unless the city complies with all immigration laws.

Any business that aids and abets illegal aliens must be fully prosecuted, heavily fined and incarcerated where appropriate. This would put an end to programs like Bank of America’s credit cards for illegal aliens program that makes it easier for illegal aliens to be here and remain under the radar.

There must be a Federal, State and Local government proclamation putting illegal aliens and their supporters on notice. The proclamation will clearly state that from a certain date forward, these entities consider illegal immigration a grave problem that will be met with total enforcement of our laws. In essence, the proclamation will make formal, a policy that no longer tolerates illegal immigration. Amazingly in today’s environment, this is absent.

Having all of these things in place at the same time will allow attrition to work to it’s full potential. It addresses the here and now by stopping the flow at the border and through immediate work place enforcement and spot raids. It gives the exodus order in that those not caught at the workplace, will be given up to a year to leave, before ALL social benefits run out and before eligibility of future naturalization is forfeited.

Additionally, the magnets for illegal aliens will have been eliminated. There is no reason for illegal aliens to want to come or stay here. There will be no jobs, no hope for amnesty, no anchor babies, no social benefits.

Most importantly, this ten point approach doesn’t compromise the rule of law and our Constitution.

Adding the elimination of social benefits to strict enforcement is sure to work. Eisenhower showed us in the fifties that enforcement itself works. The added element of “no magnets” will only fortify that technique.

For the most part, it is the illegal alien advocacy that touts massive round ups and deportations. Knowing how unpleasant it could be to witness that. With attrition, there is a lesser degree of the unpleasantness. With attrition, the illegal aliens will leave the same way they came, under their own volition and their own expense.

Yes we can deport 12 million people. Eisenhower through Operation Wetback, deported about a million back in the fifties. Actually, less than 100,000 were arrested and deported. The other 900,000 seeing the crackdown and laws being enforced, deported themselves. This proves that enforcement works. It proves enforcement aids attrition.

A side note to Ike’s handling of the immigration issue in the fifties is he actually implemented a Guest Worker Program strictly for agriculture. It worked too.

Agriculture migrants were allowed to work and did leave at the end of a 54 week period. You can do these things if you have the spine to enforce laws and have a workable system. Today we don’t have these things.

So there you have it, a sensible ten point plan to eliminate illegal immigration. One that upholds the very foundations of our nation, the rule of law and the Constitution. Let the debate begin."

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