Web Posted: 02/10/2009 12:00 CST
Activists accuse Balcones Heights of profiling
By Jeorge Zarazua – Express-News
More than 40 protesters rallied outside the Balcones Heights Police Department on Monday, accusing officers of racial profiling in efforts to detain unauthorized immigrants.
“Since early December there have been cases of racial profiling,” said Carlos de Leon, spokesman for the activist group Brown Berets of San Antonio. “The Police Department has been acting as immigration agents. As a result, they have been randomly stopping anyone who looks Hispanic and asking them for their papers.”
But city officials denied the allegations, saying officers understand they cannot enforce federal immigration policies.
“We’re not acting as an ICE agent, no way,” said Police Chief Bill Stannard, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We’re just acting as a police officer.”
Stannard said officers do not stop anyone unless they have probable cause, such as a traffic violation. He said officers then question the suspect, and if the person doesn’t have any identification and can’t be identified via computer, additional steps are taken.
“If we think they are a foreign-born national, we will call immigration,” he said. “The officer will call immigration. The agent will come out immediately or they talk to them on the telephone, and many of the times immigration is the one who will identify these people,” Stannard said.
It’s that practice that drew the ire of the Brown Berets and several other Hispanic activist groups Monday as they marched into the Police Department’s front parking lot, carrying banners and posters and shouting for justice.
“Everybody knows we’re here today to stop racial profiling here at Balcones Heights,” Tony Mandujano of the American G.I. Forum said through a bullhorn.
Mandujano, De Leon and others argued that local police officers have no business enforcing federal immigration laws.
Jim Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said he didn’t understand why Balcones Heights would be calling immigration officials.
“I think that’s pretty reprehensible,” Harrington said. “They really don’t have the right to demand people give their identification unless they have some reason to believe that the identification that person is giving them is wrong. People are not required in this country to carry some sort of proof with them of their identity.”
Spokesmen for both the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department and the San Antonio Police Department said they don’t make it a practice to call immigration authorities regarding suspects they detain. But Ino Badillo, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said immigration officials do make daily stops at the county jail in search of possible unauthorized immigrants.
Stannard, a 33-year peace officer, said he feels his department is acting properly when officers detain people who can’t be identified.
“I took an oath as a police officer,” he said. “I feel like we’re not racially profiling and that we’re doing the right thing. It’s not about race. It’s not about color. It’s whether or not they are here legally or not.”
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Web Posted: 03/04/2009 11:38 CST
Suburb’s cops won’t call feds for ID checks
By Jeorge Zarazua – Express-News

The Balcones Heights Police Department will no longer call immigration authorities when encountering people without identification, city leaders said this week.

The change in practice comes after several community activists held a protest rally against the Police Department last month, accusing officers of racially profiling Hispanics and committing other egregious acts, such as going into homes and asking residents their immigration status.

While city officials deny wrongdoing by officers, they agreed to no longer use U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help identify people.

“We just want the department to be consistent, so that there can’t be any perception that we’re treating people differently,” City Attorney Frank Garza said.

City officials also stress that despite the activists’ claims, no one has come forward to file a formal complaint against the department for racial profiling. Victor San Miguel of the Brown Berets, which helped organize the Feb. 9 protest, lauded city administrators for being receptive to activists’ concerns and agreeing to investigate any complaints that may be filed.

“I give them credit for that,” San Mix guel said.

But he acknowledged Wednesday that his organization was having difficulty finding anyone willing to come forward to testify about any of the allegations that protesters lodged against officers.

“They’re afraid to go to any person who is in charge of authority, especially the Police Department, because that’s where it’s all stemming from,” San Miguel said.

The Brown Berets will continue to encourage residents whose rights might have been violated to come forward and file complaints, San Miguel said.

Activists plan to meet again with city leaders to continue discussing ways to improve relations with Hispanics in the community, he said.

According to the Brown Berets, tensions between the Hispanic community and the Police Department reached new levels in December after police turned four immigrants over to ICE agents within a two-day period.

Police Chief Bill Stannard acknowledged last month that officers called immigration officials when they had problems identifying people they believed were foreign-born nationals, but he was unable to say how many were later found to be unauthorized immigrants.

City Administrator Sean Pate said the Police Department didn’t keep a record of those handed over to immigration authorities.

Garza said city leaders agreed the practice could be deemed as unfair. “Some of the criticisms from the citizens were, if I was a non-English-speaking citizen and did not have my driver’s license and registration, I could be referred to ICE; while, if I speak English and did not have my driver’s license and registration, I would not be referred to ICE,” he said.

Police will now take anyone who can’t be identified to Bexar County Jail and let authorities there try to identify them, Garza said.

Though police will no longer seek help from immigration authorities, it doesn’t mean they would end all cooperation with ICE, Garza said. Police would continue to detain immigrants who are found to have outstanding federal warrants for immigration violations, he said.

“We want to treat anyone who comes into Balcones Heights the same and not be accused of treating someone differently because of their race or ethnicity,” Garza said.

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