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IMMEDIATE RELEASE: APRIL 11, 2002 House members join Baca in urging Attorney General to keep local police out of immigration
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today members of the House of Representatives joined Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto) in sending a letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft strongly urging him to rethink reported plans to allow local police officers to aid the federal government in enforcing the civil component of federal immigration law. "This policy change would be an affront to the principle that the police can only stop citizens if they have reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed," said Baca. "How effective can a local police department be if large segments of the population are afraid to even go near a police officer for fear of being deported?" Newspapers across the nation reported last week that the Department of Justice was considering a plan that would let local police officers detain people and ask for documentation of immigration status without first suspecting that a crime has been committed. The Department's Office of Legal Counsel, according to the San Diego Union, is thinking of releasing an opinion that states that localities have the "inherent authority" to enforce federal immigration laws. Under current standards, the attorney general can only deputize local police during an immigration emergency and only then by agreement with the state or locality. Local police departments have expressed a desire to be kept out of immigration enforcement. "Police departments have expressed concern that this policy change would not only destroy police credibility with many communities, but that the additional work and cost would strain the ability of police departments to protect their communities," the letter states. "We must not jeopardize public safety by increasing the level of distrust between police officers and the immigrant community, or by overburdening local police departments." The letter also emphasizes that the change in policy would result in widespread racial profiling of immigrant communities. "Police officers cannot stop someone merely because they suspect, based on the person's race or ethnicity, that the person is undocumented," the letter states. "With this policy in place, what reason could police possibly have to stop citizens for immigration enforcement without suspecting a crime?" said Rep. Baca. "Only one reason is possible - the color of their skin. This policy would institutionalize racial profiling by local police to a degree we have never seen before." ### April 11, 2002
The Honorable John Ashcroft Dear Attorney General Ashcroft: My colleagues and I in the House of Representatives write to you today regarding an issue of fundamental importance to those who believe in public safety and in protecting the civil rights of all Americans. We strongly urge you to uphold the February 5, 1996 opinion of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel concluding that state and local police lack recognized legal authority to stop and detain an alien solely on suspicion of civil deportability. Allowing state and local police to enforce the civil component of federal immigration law would be detrimental to all Americans. Immigrants would become more suspicious of and less willing to work with local police. When large segments of the community are afraid to come forward and report crimes or testify in criminal cases, police have a more difficult time enforcing laws. Police officers across the nation have expressed concern that this policy change would not only destroy police credibility with many communities, but that the additional work and cost would strain the ability of police departments to protect their communities. We must not jeopardize public safety by increasing the level of distrust between police officers and the immigrant community, or by overburdening local police departments. This change in policy would also result in widespread racial profiling of immigrant communities. Police officers cannot stop someone merely because they suspect, based on the person's race or ethnicity, that the person is undocumented. They need to have reasonable suspicion that the person is engaged in illegal activity unrelated to the person's immigration status. Allowing a police officer to stop a person on civil immigration violations would undermine this legal principle, and result in increased harassment and racial profiling of immigrant communities. There is a long legal tradition that holds that immigration enforcement is a federal matter. This is not the time to reverse this policy. Again, we the undersigned Members of Congress urge you to protect all Americans by reaffirming the Department of Justice's past position that police officers do not have the authority to enforce civil immigration law. Sincerely,
JOE BACA
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