Missouri's crackdown on illegal immigrants raises profiling concerns

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Six weeks into the state's crackdown on illegal immigrants, 52 arrests have been made -- with most of those arrested caught in routine traffic stops, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.

Some have hailed Gov. Matt Blunt's new policy, but others worry it leads to racial profiling of Hispanics.

The Post-Dispatch report said more than half of detainees were passengers. One had a flat tire. Others were pulled over for speeding or failure to use a turn signal properly.

"I've never heard of anyone who is not Hispanic being taken in for failing to use the turn signal," said Tony Rothert, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union office in St. Louis. He believes the Missouri State Highway Patrol lacks a "coherent policy" for deciding whom to arrest.

Blunt began the crackdown on Aug. 27. He pointed to an illegal immigrant from Peru accused of committing a triple murder in New Jersey while free on bail on a rape charge. Blunt said an earlier immigration check could have prevented the killings.

At that time, Blunt ordered the Highway Patrol to run residency checks on everyone troopers lock up.

In fact, the patrol is encouraging officers to run computerized immigration checks on motorists who lack sufficient identification, though it allows exceptions when the officer personally knows the driver.

"Our people are trying to do everything they can to make sure people can legally operate vehicles," patrol Maj. Brent Johnson said. "If something bad were to happen, the question would be, 'Why didn't you check their status?"'

The Post-Dispatch filed a public records request to obtain information about those detained since Aug. 27. The results showed that relatively few were charged with crimes other than immigration violations.

A few of the detainees were charged with serious crimes, including two arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Six people were arrested in a stealing case and two were picked up as part of a salvage yard investigation.

Though the effort has angered Hispanic leaders in Missouri, Blunt took another step Wednesday, sending a letter to county prosecutors saying he supports efforts to enforce a state law against illegal immigration.

The law says those found employing illegal immigrants can be ruled ineligible for state tax credits, tax abatements or loans.

Those detained on criminal charges at times are not held long. Those who are from Mexico and have no criminal records often are given the option of a quick "voluntary return" with no charges, said Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Some states have sought agreements that allow state officers to make immigration arrests and handle deportation paperwork, under federal supervision. Blunt has applied for Missouri to be the seventh state with such authority.

A 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision gave law enforcement broad authority to check immigration status, said Kris W. Kobach, who teaches law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

"As long as it's uniform policy that applies in all situations -- like a person being arrested or all people being stopped for a traffic violation -- then the possibility of any kind of profiling is very low," Kobach said.

In the six weeks after Blunt issued his directive, state and local law enforcement officers ran 1,136 immigration checks, according to the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which is part of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

One officer, Patrol Corp. R.A. Seaton, arrested nearly half of the detainees -- 25 out of 52 -- in two traffic stops on Interstate 70 in Warren County.

In the first case, Omar Gomez-Ibarra, 24, was stopped for improper use of a turn signal. The van also had a broken luggage shell on top, and items were falling out, a patrol spokesman said.

The driver had an ID card that appeared to be fraudulent, and the other occupants -- seven men and four juveniles -- had no identification, spokesman Sgt. Al Nothum said.

ICE said four of the men were deported, three were held as material witnesses, and the driver was turned over to U.S. marshals for prosecution. The juveniles were transferred to another facility.

Nothum defended the officer's decision to pull over the van, saying, "We can't have people going down the highway with stuff falling out of their vehicle."

In Seaton's second case, Miriam Castillo, 22, was pulled over for what patrol reports describe only as a "traffic violation." Seaton called immigration officials, who told him to detain Castillo and her 12 passengers, the patrol said.

---

Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com