"maximilian smith" wrote in message
news:47b97132$0$8415$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
>
> "Seth Hammond" wrote in message
>
>>> It's what appeals to whitetrash Americans.
>>>
>>> They also believe that they are winning in Iraq....
>>>
>>> They can't cope with the truth.
>>>
>>
>> Hey, I'm sorry your masters won't let you have guns. I guess if you just
>> weren't so goddam irresponsible.
>
> Meanwhile in crime free Phoenix:
>
> http://news.google.gg/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&q=phoenix+murder
>
No worries, Myte. We'll soon have no crime at all:
Phoenix Police to Check Arrestees' Immigrant Status
a.. Published: February 16, 2008
PHOENIX - The police in this city at the center of the immigration debate
will soon ask all people arrested whether they are in the United States
legally and will in certain cases report the information to the federal
authorities, Mayor Phil Gordon announced on Friday.
Laura Segall for The New York Times
Mayor Phil Gordon of Phoenix, who changed city policy to ask all arrested
people their status.
People stopped for civil traffic violations like speeding will not be
questioned, nor will crime victims or witnesses.
All those arrested on criminal charges like drunken driving and murder will
be asked by officers whether they are in the United States legally.
The police may decide to recommend checking by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
The change includes having the police notify the immigration agency about
people who are detained but not arrested who officers have "reasonable
basis" to believe are illegal immigrants.
A conservative legal group said the policy did not go far enough.
Civil rights advocates suggested that people who appeared to be Latino or
spoke with accents would be more likely to be checked than others.
Hispanics make up 34 percent of Phoenix, the nation's fifth-largest city,
with 1.5 million residents.
At a news conference on Friday, Mr. Gordon and the four lawyers on a
commission that recommended the changes tried to emphasize that the program
would be closely monitored. Police officers, they said, would not become
immigration agents and would not stop people at random and ask their legal
status.
"We are doing what every city in this country should be doing but doesn't,"
Mr. Gordon said.
He added that the policy drew "a bright line between what should and should
not be the role of the Phoenix Police Department."
The program departs from a policy that is more than 10 years old that bars
officers from asking people about their legal status in most cases. It also
sets Phoenix apart from most other big cities with large immigrant
populations, including New York and Los Angeles. The police in those cities
generally avoid such questions over fears that they would lead to racial
profiling and discourage immigrants from cooperating with the police.
Mr. Gordon had faced criticism that the current policy was in effect helping
make Phoenix a sanctuary for illegal immigrants. The city is 200 miles from
Mexico and is the largest in a state with the heaviest influx of illegal
immigrants.
An illegal immigrant killed a police officer last fall, and the police union
and others stepped calls to change the policy. Judicial Watch, a
conservative-leaning legal group in Washington, began preparing a suit and
looked into a recall of Mr. Gordon.
Police Chief Jack F. Harris, who has been outspoken in warning of the
dangers of major police involvement in immigration enforcement, said he
endorsed the policy, would write regulations for it and put it into place
within three months.
Christopher J. Farrell, director of investigations with Judicial Watch,
called the change a "public relations feel-good piece" that "split the
baby." The main problem, Mr. Farrell said, is that it continues to restrict
officers from contacting the immigration agency, which Judicial Watch
believes violates federal law.
Antonio D. Bustamante, a member of Los Abogados, a Hispanic legal group in
Phoenix, said the policy changed "only because of xenophobia" and people
"who hate the undocumented without understanding the huge contribution they
make to the city an
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