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Local pols rally behind immigrants
By Casey Ross
Tuesday, May 2, 2006


Local political leaders stood in support of immigrant protesters yesterday, with some mayors even joining rallies and declaring their unwillingness to use municipal resources to enforce federal immigration laws.

“The message is that if you live in the city of Somerville, you are part of this community and you will have access to the same city services as everyone else,” said Mayor Joseph Curtatone, who has drafted a resolution to affirm that immigrant residents do not have to prove their legal status or fear a crackdown by the city’s police.


Hundreds of immigrants protested federal immigration policies in Somerville’s Foss Park yesterday afternoon, while hundreds more marched through the streets of Chelsea and East Boston. Many held signs urging respect for human rights and the economic contributions of foreign-born laborers.


Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash said he planned to join the protest to offer his support for the city’s large immigrant population. “We need to change the way the country looks at immigrants today,” Ash said. “I can’t see us penalizing people who overcome great obstacles to come here and contribute to our society.”


In Boston, where several businesses that rely on immigrant laborers closed or suffered slowdowns yesterday, Mayor Thomas M. Menino called on Congress to pass reform legislation that would both “strengthen our borders and create pathways to permanent legal residency.”


This mayor sounds ignorant and in outright defiance of the law. I say any police officer, local or state, take notice of the below US Supreme Court ruling and if needed, make their chiefs or supervisors or local government officials aware of it. It clarifies the 1996 Immigration Reform Act which was signed by a Democrat...


Supreme Court Ruling Razes Artificial Fire Wall Between Local Law Enforcement and Immigration Enforcement

Press release by Federation for American Immigration Reform, April 1, 2005

http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_mediaa09d


In its March 22 ruling in the case of Muehler v. Mena, the Supreme Court removed barriers that prevent local law enforcement officers from questioning the immigration status of individuals they suspect to be in the United States illegally. In this groundbreaking decision, the high Court rejected the claim of Ira Mena, a permanent resident of the U.S., that police had violated the Fourth Amendment while conducting a lawful search of her home.

The Fourth Amendment provides protection by establishing that persons be shielded against unreasonable search and seizure. Mena argued that by questioning her, and the illegal alien detainees about their immigration status during a lawful search, officers violated her Fourth Amendment rights. Mena further claimed that questions asked about her citizenship required officers to have had independent reasonable suspicion regarding the unlawfulness of her immigration status.

Calling a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals “faulty,” the Supreme Court held that “mere police questioning [regarding one’s immigration status] does not constitute a seizure.” The Court continued its landmark ruling on this issue by stating that “the officers did not need reasonable suspicion to ask Mena for her name, date of birth, or immigration status.”

“Whatever legal fig leaf many police departments have been using to justify policies of non-cooperation with federal immigration authorities, has been stripped away by this landmark Supreme Court decision,” stated Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “If local police are barred from cooperating with federal authorities in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws it is purely a political decision on the part of local politicians and police chiefs. There is no legal barrier to local police inquiring about a person’s immigration status and then acting upon the information they gather.”

Congress expressly intended for local law enforcement to act in cases in which officers have reason to believe that an individual is in the country illegally, even though immigration law enforcement is not their primary responsibility. In 1996, Congress passed and President Clinton signed legislation that protects individual officers who act to enforce federal immigration laws, even if their departments have non-cooperation policies.

“In Muehler v. Mena the Court reinforced the clear intent of Congress in this matter,” said Stein. “Inquiring about an individual’s immigration status can and should be a routine part of ascertaining information, no different than asking questions about one’s name, or date and place of birth. Local police come into contact with people who are violating federal immigration laws on a daily basis. Freeing local police to inquire about an individual’s immigration status and allowing them to act is essential to curbing mass illegal immigration and protecting our homeland security.”

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Posted by: RPD931

To the local Pols that back the immigrant rally:

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