Denver Jails to Cease Enforcing Immigration Holds

By Jeralyn, Section Colorado News
Posted on Thu May 01, 2014 at 02:01:16 PM EST
Tags: immigration reform (all tags)

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Denver has become the 7th Colorado county to refuse to honor federal immigration holds. The reason for the decisions: Court rulings that have held county sheriff departments may be liable for violating the 4th Amendment.

"It is the legal equivalent of asking the sheriff to make a new arrest" without any legal grounds, Mark Silverstein, legal director of the Colorado chapter of the ACLU, said at a news conference.

The Colorado ACLU's request for the policy change is here. [More...]

“An ICE detainer is not a warrant; it is not approved by a judge. It does not mean that there has been a finding about the person’s immigration status. It does not even mean that ICE has probable cause to believe the person is deportable. Indeed, ICE makes mistakes—it has regularly issued detainers against citizens or legal residents and denied liberty to people who are not deportable.

“When ICE asks a sheriff to hold a prisoner for up to six extra days, the agency is essentially asking the sheriff to make a new arrest. And Colorado law just does not provide authority to sheriffs to make that arrest. Peace officers in Colorado have authority to deprive persons of liberty when there is probable cause to believe they have committed a crime.

Remaining in the country in violation of federal immigration laws is not a crime. Colorado law does not provide sheriffs any authority to deprive persons of liberty because the federal government suspects they may be subject to civil immigration enforcement proceedings.

The policy goes into effect immediately. From the memo, according to Reuters:

"All persons who are in our custody who currently have a 48-hour ICE hold that is not accompanied by a criminal warrant or some other form that gives … legal authority to hold that person shall be dropped."

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Denver Jails to Cease Enforcing Immigration Holds | 8 comments (8 topical)

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News to me (none / 0) (#1)
by Mikado Cat on Thu May 01, 2014 at 09:21:36 PM EST

Entering the country illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation?

Seems like it. 8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien
(a) Improper time or place; avoidance of examination or inspection; misrepresentation and concealment of facts
Any alien who
(1) enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers, or
(2) eludes examination or inspection by immigration officers, or
(3) attempts to enter or obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation or the willful concealment of a material fact, shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both, and, for a subsequent commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18, or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
(b) Improper time or place; civil penalties
Any alien who is apprehended while entering (or attempting to enter) the United States at a time or place other than as designated by immigration officers shall be subject to a civil penalty of--
(1) at least $50 and not more than $250 for each such entry (or attempted entry); or
(2) twice the amount specified in paragraph (1) in the case of an alien who has been previously subject to a civil penalty under this subsection.
Civil penalties under this subsection are in addition to, and not in lieu of, any criminal or other civil penalties that may be imposed.
(c) Marriage fraud
Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than $250,000, or both.
(d) Immigration-related entrepreneurship fraud
Any individual who knowingly establishes a commercial enterprise for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, fined in accordance with title 18, or both.

Do you seriously believe you ... (5.00 / 2) (#2)
by Yman on Thu May 01, 2014 at 10:52:55 PM EST

... are better at interpreting the law than the ACLU?

How about the Supreme Court?

"By authorizing state and local officers to make warrantless arrests of certain aliens suspected of being removable, §6 too creates an obstacle to federal law. As a general rule, it is not a crime for a removable alien to remain in the United States. The federal scheme instructs when it is appropriate to arrest an alien during the removal process."


Two parts; (none / 0) (#3)
by Mikado Cat on Sat May 03, 2014 at 12:00:19 AM EST

A) A simple statement that I did not know whether illegal entry was a crime or civil something.

B) A post of the federal statute without any interpretation.


You forgot a few parts (5.00 / 3) (#4)
by Yman on Sat May 03, 2014 at 08:29:51 AM EST

The title of your post ( "News to me") immediately before your "simple statement", indicating disbelief.
Your statement expressing disbelief ("Seems like it")
You quoted a federal statute dealing with entry into the US indicating a criminal offense, which was irrelevant to the article wherein they noted it was not a criminal offense to remain in the US in violation of immigration laws.

But nice attempt at revisionism ...


You are wrong (none / 0) (#5)
by Mikado Cat on Mon May 05, 2014 at 12:40:10 AM EST

oddly I happen to know what I want thinking, and it was that I did not know if it was criminal or civil.


"Oddly" (none / 0) (#6)
by Yman on Mon May 05, 2014 at 06:34:07 AM EST

You expressed disbelief twice including - based on your latest attempt at revisionism - an apparent "misquote" of the statute:

Entering the country illegally is a civil, not criminal, violation?
Seems like it. 8 U.S. Code § 1325 - Improper entry by alien ...

I guess it must have been someone else who managed to hack the server and insert those two words at the beginning of an irrelevant criminal statute.

What are the odds?


Give up (none / 0) (#7)
by jimakaPPJ on Mon May 05, 2014 at 04:45:09 PM EST

Yman knows all, sees all and harasses anyone he thinks disagrees with him.

;-)


: Just those who are ... (none / 0) (#8)
by Yman on Mon May 05, 2014 at 06:10:55 PM EST

... shall we say, "factually challenged".
But good to hear the first part of your statement. Seems a bit much if you ask me, but it's nice you think so ... :)