Gov. Peter Shumlin and the Department of Public Safety announced a new policy today that effectively prohibits Vermont State Police from asking suspected illegal immigrants for papers unless they are suspected of another crime.
According to a press release, the new policy states that “Vermont State Police troopers should not try to identify people whose only suspected violation is that they are present in the United States without proper documentation, but also makes clear that officers should continue to investigate suspected criminal activity.”
Previously, the state police’s “bias-free” policy barred troopers from asking about immigration status only when a suspected immigrant was a crime victim or witness. Vermont’s dairy farms are heavily dependent on migrant labor; several thousand Latino workers are employed in Vermont dairies, legally and illegally.
Shumlin launched a review of state policy in September after two undocumented migrant farm workers, one of them an outspoken activist, were detained by state police during a traffic stop and turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. The governor took heat from Republicans when he said afterward that Vermont’s policy on immigration enforcement amounted to “look the other way.”
The new policy was authored by Shumlin’s former legal counsel Beth Robinson, who the governor recently appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court.
Click here to read Shumlin’s press release. Click here to download the policy.
Shumlin’s press release quotes Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn saying the policy will “ensure the fair and equal treatment of all individuals in Vermont.” Attorney General William Sorrell, who has urged all Vermont police departments to adopt a policy akin to Shumlin’s new one, said, “This is good news. Now I hope more Vermont police departments will adopt bias-free policies that emphasize their primary role of enforcing Vermont criminal laws.”
The new policy includes “special provisions” for law enforcement operating near the Canadian border, allowing them to take action relating to “unlawful border crossings in progress, as well as to call for support from federal authorities when required to protect officer or public safety,” the press release says.
Click here to read about a Franklin County dairy farmer near the Canadian border whose migrant workers were removed earlier this year after one them accidentally dialed 911.
The VT Migrant Farmworker Solidarity Project, which launched a sustained lobbying effort to get the policy changed, welcomed the new policy as a “big step forward” but then expressed some fears about it.
“The policy has a number of exceptions to when police can ask about immigration status and engage in immigration enforcement,” said Solidarity Project spokesperson Natalia Fajardo.
This article appears in Nov 2-8, 2011.
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Caryn, Illegal immigrants get lawyers. WHere did you get the idea they don’t? They get lawyers to represent them in Immigration court, to file appeals with the BIA, to file appeals in the Court of Appeals… etc.Moreover, as soon as they go to immigration court they are given a work card and qualify for public assistance. What more do you want to give them?
And about racial profiling (this is for Will Workman) – not only is this practice condemned by every reputable law enforcement organization because it DOESN’T WORK, it completely overlooks the fact that many illegal immigrants, if not most, are not Hispanic. I understand that people may not know much about how immigration law works or the demographics of the immigrant population, but PLEASE do research before you form opinions based on emotions rather than facts. The level of ignorance in this debate is disturbing.
Caleb, I’m saying that the reason why illegal immigrants don’t get lawyers is precisely because unlawful presence is NOT a crime. The federal rules governing immigration are in title 8 of the US code, not in the criminal sections. Accordingly, the local police have NO AUTHORITY to enforce immigration law. It is absolutely within their discretion whether they choose to turn “suspected” migrants over to ICE. They are not “refusing” to enforce the law because it was never up to them to enforce it in the first place.
Caryn,Please give a reason why illegal immigrants who are detained or arrested should get free lawyers at US taxpayer expense?
At the end of the day, unlawful presence is not a crime but rather a civil law violation. If we want our police to use their limited resources to investigate these administrative issues as if they were crimes, then we should spend taxpayer dollars to provide accused illegal immigrants with adequate legal representation and the due process rights that citizens currently receive. Until this happens, the cops have no business investigating immigration law violations. When they do, it diverts resources from investigation of real crime and hurts the community as a whole.
I am a liberal democrat who is saddened by the Shumlin decision to tell the police to not do the job they are paid to do, which is to enforce the laws of our state and country. If you do not like the law governor, then work to change it, not break it. I can so longer support you.
Caleb, if I have insulted the one American of Mexican descent who is willing to endure endless harassment from the VSP in the interest of catching illegal immigrants, I will apologize right away. The point is that nobody ever hears of police targeting blond haired, blue eyed Caucasians simply because they are statistically likely to commit a certain crime. It is easy for those with blond hair and blue eyes to say that targeting citizens of a certain ethnicity is justified. They will never be the targets unless they fit the description of a specific suspect. Even then, bias creeps in. Some years ago the UVM police pulled guns on a 5’2″ black female. The suspect had been described as a 6’2″ black male. Profiling is ugly.I don’t really care that my Middle Eastern features attract extra questions from CBP and TSA personnel, although if I ever get strip searched it will be the last time I fly. It is a waste of their time. I’m not going to say that the laws should be changed. If someone driving a work van is pulled over for a traffic violation and turns out to have a foreign licence, that is his tough luck. Immigration laws are simply not so precious that VSP needs to bother everyone with an accent just to root out a few illegal immigrants.
Eric,Your last comment about Will Workman was totally racist. Shame on you. By the way, is “very very white” different from just “very white” or from just “white”? What the hell are you talking about?And you imply that you’re somehow morally superior to Will because he hasn’t (you assume) been investigated based on superficial characteristics. How do you know? And have you? And what constitutes a superficial characteristic?
Caleb, I thought you said on another post that you’re not against bias-free policing.I am not opposed to immigration laws. Every country has them. I simply agree with Shumlin that VSP has better things to do than crack down on illegal immigration. Let BP and ICE harass anyone who looks like an illegal immigrant, make racist @$$holes out of themselves, and alienate the community. The new bias-free policing policy calls for the VSP to cooperate with the feds when requested. Somehow I have the feeling that Will Workman above is very very white and has never been investigated based on superficial characteristics.
Eric,Your analogy to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” doesn’t work. In the case of gays in the military, people got off their butts and got the rules changed. In the case of illegal immigration, you haven’t changed the rules, but you don’t want them to be enforced.Nice try. Try again.