Originally Posted by Anonymous Member

The article states that illegal immigrants were with the bundles. And, given the area, I have no reason to doubt that is exactly what it was.

And now, I'm going to correct something I keep seeing.....

The term "Reasonable suspicion" (RS) has been tossed about in the news without a proper definition, almost as if it is some sort of magic key that allows law enforcement to violate civil rights. All me to present a quick lesson in law.....

Reasonable suspicion=a series of ARTICULABLE FACTS that when taken as a whole, would give a the average person reasonable suspicion that a particular act is being or has been commited.

Articulable Fact=tangible evidence that is witnessed directly by any of the five senses.

In the case of immigration, you can have manner of dress (clothes not typical of area or dirty as if crawling through the desert), lack of english speaking skills (despite being in a predominantly english speaking location), location (eg, and area where illegal immigrants are known to be, travel through, or frequent), and attempting to avoid contact with law enforcement (many ways of doing that including in-your-face tactics).
Heck, even hygiene can play into it. But these are just examples, and there are a number of ways to build RS with articulable facts, as long as they are tangible.

The confusion arises in that, in most cases, the average person isn't trained or experienced enough to see the articulable facts that law enforcement does. That is why they have to be tangible; the law enforcement officer needs to be able to present concrete facts to build his/her particular 'reasonable suspicion' and thus make a lawful detention and/or arrest. In short, as a LEO, you'd better have some concrete stuff, hunches don't play out well.

Now, keep in mind, RS only gives the LEO the legal right to detain and investigate further. It does NOT give them the right to arrest. For that, they need Probable Cause. So, once a LEO has RS, he can keep probing until he can determine whether or not a crime has been commited. If not, the person goes on their way, usually inside a very short time frame. If more articulable facts are found that will lead an average person that a crime is probably being commited, then the LEO can legally arrest the person.

Bottom line, if the LEO approaches you and asks for immigration documents, then he has gathered sufficient tangible facts that give him the legal right to do so.