Miami-Dade to change police and immigration rules

Фото: Depositphotos

District Miami-Dade became the only one in the USAwho executed the decree of President Donald Trump on the detention of illegal immigrants by the police, even for minor offenses, including violations during driving, with a view to further transfer to immigration authorities. Because of this, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is now suing the county administration, and residents of this region held several protests.

At the same time, the district police stated that they did not want to be subordinate to the immigration authorities, CBS.

“We don't want people to think that we're going out and knocking on houses looking for undocumented immigrants in the area,” said Police Chief Juan Perez.

In order not to provoke fear from residents of the district, as well as to clarify the situation for the police themselves, in Miami-Dade was adopted memorandum, endorsing a policy of police and immigration cooperation, as well as the extent to which the police can be involved in bringing illegal immigrants to justice.

The memorandum states that the police cannot detain immigrants on the basis of an immigration police order or because they violate immigration laws, but if they have committed other offenses for which they were detained, the police are obliged to inform the immigration authorities about this and transfer the violator to them.

It is also noted that any complaints and allegations of crime should be treated with equal attention by the police, regardless of the immigration status of the person submitting them.

Militiamen hope that this document will help immigrants to contact the police without fear and cooperate with it if necessary, however, they note the ambiguity of some phrases in the adopted document.

Among some of the controversial formulations is the phrase: "The police should not check the immigration status of victims and witnesses of crime, if this information is not relevant to the investigation."

Police Chief Peres believes that immigration status is important when it comes to investigating crimes such as trafficking and smuggling, in which immigrants can participate, and local investigators often work with federal agencies while working on such cases.

However, some lawyers and human rights defenders see the wording “is relevant to the investigation” as a very vague meaning and a loophole that the investigator can use to pressure the victim or the witness if they, being illegal immigrants, refuse to cooperate. In this case, the investigator may threaten them with the transfer of information to immigration authorities if these people refuse to comply with his request.

In connection with these comments, the Police Department decided to revise the document in order to make it more specific and understandable, but Peres asked for some time to develop a draft improvement document. The police chief did not rule out that seeking advice from residents of the district, since, according to him, it is important for law enforcement officers that victims and witnesses of crimes do not fear the police, but cooperate with them.

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