Do you see a problem picked up the 11 day laborers and drove them to another parking lot, where ICE is waiting?

[adalwine]

Do you see a problem with Danbury police officer, posing as a contractor picked up the 11 day laborers and drove them to another parking lot, where immigration officials were waiting ?The City of Danbury is being sued. According to the New Haven Register article by Mary E. O’Leary published on Sunday July 18,2010, the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at the Yale Law School legal clinic has filed a lawsuit that “concerns the events of Sept. 19, 2006 at Kennedy Park, when a Danbury police officer, posing as a contractor, picked up the 11 day laborers and drove them to another parking lot, where immigration officials were waiting. They were processed in Danbury by its police. Subsequently, ICE sent them to immigration facilities around the country, several as far away as Texas.” The lawsuit further alleges “racial profiling” by the police in its arrest and detention of these 11 individuals.


The “11 day laborers” were apparently in the United States illegally. Danbury, CT. a city with a population of approximately 78,000 people, has according to the most current US Census estimate 16,254 non –US citizens, almost 21% of its population. This is not to be confused with legal or naturalized foreign-born citizens, which number 7,757, by US Census measurements. This is a high percentage of non US citizens in Danbury, higher than cities like New Haven whose overall number of non-US citizens is at 11%. The US Census estimate of non-US citizens does not indicate these numbers are completely made up of illegal aliens, but it is a good indicator.


In the Danbury case, police arrested 11 individuals for what the Register article alludes to is “Reckless Use of the Highway by a Pedestrian,” which would be an infraction under Connecticut state statutes. The arrestees were immediately turned over to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E), waiting in a nearby parking lot. They were charged with a single federal crime of illegally entering the United States. This account appears to be what has often been referred to as a “pretext stop” rather than racial profiling.


Racial profiling and pretext stops are completely different issues. “Pretext stops” have been upheld, unanimously by the US Supreme Court since its ruling in the “WHREN v.
UNITED STATES” case in June of 1996. A “pretext stop” according to the “Whren” case “allows the police to conduct a further investigation through use of commonly occurring traffic violations as means of investigating violations of other laws.” The Court further stated “Subjective intentions play no role in ordinary, probable-cause Fourth Amendment analysis.”


The police in Danbury, according to reports, engaged in a legitimate activity to combat perceived problems in their city. Unfortunately, the City of Danbury, its leaders, police force, and taxpayers are being abused by political idealogues by way of the federal court system in an effort to arbitrarily change immigration law in the United States. Now that is un-American.

http://www.examiner.com/x-59099-Hartford-Conservative-Examiner~y2010m7d19-City-of-Danbury-versus-illegal-immigration

[thacher]

Maybe police should stop handing out speeding tickets too because they are profiling people that like to drive fast. I mean, they might get together and start suing police for doing their jobs.

Are people serious? Seems to me that a lot of lawyers are exploiting our legal system to make a quick buck off of controversial issues assumingly under the thought process that it will tug at the judges' heart strings and give them a win. Lawsuits are way out of control in this country.

[iden]

I see no problem with it. There is no race associated with DAY WORKERS or ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, those that say it is racist are just idiots and are racist themselves. I think my state should follow the same tactic.

[ring]

I've decided to go to Dan bury and shake the hand of every police officer I see! no laws broken here and I hope they keep it up no matter what the liberal freaks think!!!!!

[voliny13]

I like the idea, but if we tried that here in Phoenix, ICE would probably just release them

[ingel]

good one

[elkanah1]

A sting operation is often used effectively to apprehend criminals. I see nothing wrong with this practice. When one is committing an illegal act knowingly one should not scream racist profiling when arrested.for that crime..It is profiling to center attention on drug dealers ,bank robbers,murders etc? .No of course it isn't.