Trespassing on a Public Street
by TChris
“Show me your papers.” Chilling words, long regarded as antithetical to a free society. But not in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, where the police have taken to charging undocumented aliens with criminal trespass. “Trespass,” in this case, means being on public property—an absurd stretch of a trespassing law.
Jorge Mora Ramirez was making a cell phone call from his car, which he’d stopped on the side of a road. That lawful activity shouldn’t have subjected Ramirez to a police encounter, but a local cop interrogated Ramirez and got him to admit that he didn’t enter the country through proper channels. The cop tried to get INS to take Ramirez into custody, but INS doesn’t have the resources to waste on undocumented immigrants who pose no threat to public safety. The clever cop then decided that Ramirez was trespassing, simply by entering the cop’s town.
"I wanted the federal government to understand that I was going to take some type of action," said New Ipswich Police Chief W. Garrett Chamberlain. "If I can discourage illegal aliens from coming to or passing through my community, then I think I've succeeded."
He’s succeeded in being a jerk, but not in enforcing the law fairly or reasonably. Chamberlain has arrested nine others in recent weeks for trespassing, simply because they’re in his town without papers showing they entered the country lawfully.
Ramirez’s lawyers moved to dismiss the charge, arguing that trespassing laws intend to penalize unwelcome entry to private property, not the use of public streets by undocumented aliens. They also complain—correctly—that enforcing immigration laws is the federal government’s job, not New Ipswich’s. The town’s lame response: ticketing undocumented aliens enhances national security. The judge rolled his eyes at the attempt to justify harassment as a security measure.
Noting that if found guilty, Ramirez would receive no jail time and only a $1,000 fine, the judge asked the prosecutor, "How is national security or even local security enhanced by giving someone a citation?"
The judge (again correctly) questioned whether it's his job to decide someone's immigration status. Undeterred by logic, the prosecutor pressed forward, making arguments that illustrate the absurdity of the town's position.
In his questions to the prosecutor about how such applications of the law would work, Runyon asked if foreign visitors could be detained if they left their passport at their hotel. Morse said foreigners would be expected to have the documents.
In other words: "Show me your papers." No papers, and you get arrested, whether or not you've entered the country through proper channels. Welcome to America!
The judge hasn't yet ruled on the motion to dismiss. The correct ruling is obvious: these ridiculous prosecutions need to be tossed. And if the Chief of Police wants to enforce federal law, he should join the FBI.
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