Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymous Member
Uhhh, what? You do realize you just contradicted yourself don't you?
Once a LEO has you under arrest, he can dig as deep as he wants. Regards to immigration, when you get fingerprinted, the database should be able to point you out as an illegal immigrant. No court would ever say that is an illegal move on the LEOs part.
No different than being pulled over for a broken taillight and the cop arresting you for having a dead body in the back seat.
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Where, exactly, is the contradiction?
More precisely, you do understand that the Arizona law talks about checking immigration status in any "lawful contact," right? And that as such, it applies to a range of issues that are far broader than being under arrest or suspected of a crime, right?
The issue with the law is precisely that LEOs can pretty much decide to check one's immigration status for almost any reason whatsoever. It goes well beyond traffic violations, too. A LEO can ask a question of anyone, at any time, and while the person doesn't have to respond, that in and by itself already constitutes lawful contact.
So sure, a police officer can dig as deep as he wants to once he has detained a person for any crime or violation. But according to the new Arizona law, they can now check the immigration status of anyone for almost any reason they can think of. There are very, very few things that constitute "unlawful contact" by the police.
And on a related note, perhaps in the least surprising news of the year, a lot of the same folks who defended the Arizona law publicly are now complaining because a democratic bill contains a provision for a national id system.