BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Los Alamos Police Department has rescinded a process under which the Los Alamos Detention Center was sending a weekly email to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and other recipients with the names, dates of birth, social security number and violation details of anyone booked at the LADC. See Original story
LAPD Chief Dino Sgambellone, who was out of the office Monday when the story broke, said senior LAPD staff were not aware that the email was being sent from the LADC.
The following is from the Department’s procedure on encounters with foreign nationals
Identification – In conjunction with law and international treaties, when Officers/agents encounter foreign nationals during the course of their lawful duties, they shall comply with the following procedures:
Enforcement of immigration laws and the arrest of undocumented foreign nationals resides exclusively with the United States Federal Government.
Law Enforcement Officers may NOT stop, detain and question, arrest or place an immigration or a U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) hold on any person NOT suspected of crimes, solely on the grounds that they may be undocumented and deportable foreign nationals. When Officers make a lawful stop, they may not ordinarily detain the vehicle’s occupants beyond a reasonable period of time required for the disposition of the matter that justified the initial stop.
Officers shall not request immigration documents but may consider them for purposes of identification. Officers shall accept the Mexican Consular Identification Card (Matricula Consular de Alta Seguridad) as a valid form of identification. The Mexican Consular ID Card is not an indication of a person’s immigration status, nor is it sufficient evidence to establish reasonable suspicion of a person’s immigration status.
Officers shall not inquire about or seek proof of a person’s immigration status unless the person is in custody or is a suspect in a criminal investigation for a non- immigration criminal violation.
When the arrest of an undocumented immigrant is necessary for a criminal violation, Officers shall notify the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) immediately so that they may respond appropriately.
Officers are not required to notify federal immigration officials and shall not call federal immigration officials to the scene of a stop or investigation except in the case of suspected human trafficking (i.e., a traffic stop involving a large amount of undocumented foreign nationals). The Officer shall notify a Supervisor of the incident prior to contacting I.C.E. officials. The incident shall be properly documented in an offense/incident report.
This policy shall not prevent an Officer from properly investigating or taking necessary action in a non-immigration criminal violation.
Consular Notification Obligations
Consular notification obligations are triggered upon any of the following situations:
- The arrest or Detention of a foreign national.
- The death or serious injury of a foreign national.
- An injury crash involving a foreign national.
In cases where a foreign national is the victim of a serious crime or felony, the Officer shall ask the victim whether he or she would like consular notification to be made.
Officers who suspect that a person being arrested or detained is not a U.S. citizen shall inquire about his or her nationality in order to determine whether consular notification requirements apply. When such a request is made, the Officer shall explain the purpose of the inquiry.
If an arrestee or detainee indicates that he or she is a foreign national, the Officer shall ask for a passport or green card as identification. The foreign national’s country shall be determined using this identification. If no citizenship documentation regarding identification can be provided, the Officer shall accept the foreign nationals own statement about nationality.
Undocumented illegal aliens are also entitled to consular notification and access.
Persons who indicate that they are U.S. citizens shall be presumed to be citizens.
Persons who indicate that they are dual citizens of another country and the U.S. shall be treated as a U.S. citizen. Consular notification is not required under this circumstance.