Roadside Amnesty in AZ

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu posted about the new ICE policy in Arizona. He describes an incident from June 27, 2012:

At 4:45 p.m. one of my deputies stopped a vehicle on a traffic stop after he observed it speeding at 85 mph in a 35 mph zone near Merrill Ranch Parkway on Felix Road. The vehicle also unsafely passed another vehicle while using the two way left turn lane.

The driver of the vehicle was a 17-year-old Hispanic male who verbally identified himself and told the deputy he was driving in such a reckless manner because he was “late for work.” The driver told the deputy he did not have a driver’s license and could not obtain any identification, since he lacked proper documentation required to qualify. He also said that his parents are also in the United States illegally. He told the deputy he was born in Mexico. When asked where he lived he stated, “Little Mexico.” The driver said that he could not remember his exact home address.

The deputy notified his supervisor of his stop and then notified U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). The deputy explained to the ICE representative he had a 17-year-old juvenile stopped who had committed two misdemeanors, had no identification, admitted both he and his parents were in the United States illegally.

The ICE representative asked how long the individual had been in the United States. The deputy told him the juvenile said he was born in Mexico but claimed to have been living in the United States for the majority of his life. The deputy was told by ICE that since he was in the United States for more than five years, they were not interested in him unless he committed a felony crime.

The deputy asked the ICE representative about the parents whom the juvenile said were illegally in the United States as well. The ICE representative told him that if the parents have been in the United States for five years or more also, he was not going to take any action against them either.

The driver was cited and released to his mother who responded to the scene. The vehicle impounded for 30 days due to the fact it was operated on the roadways without a licensed driver.

True to their word, ICE is no longer responding to situations involving illegals in Arizona. The ICE agent made a clear decision not to investigate the matter based simply on a phone conversation. No one verified that any of the information was fact. 

Sheriff Babeu and his deputies are frustrated. On his website Babeu writes, “As troubling, President Obama established a toll free hot line to report law enforcement for suspected racial profiling. How have we arrived at this point in America, where our own President decides what laws don’t apply to illegals and then establishes a hot line for them to report our heroes in law enforcement for suspected racial profiling? Where is the hot line for me to call to demand that all the laws are enforced and for the President to stop portraying law enforcement as the bad guys?”

It does not appear that the Department of Justice, the Department of Immigrations and Customs nor the Obama Administration will do anything to promote justice for the citizens of Arizona…at least until there is a new administration.