by Daniel Nardini
In 2010, U.S. immigration officers and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department conducted an immigration raid against a largely Latino occupied apartment complex in Nashville, Tennessee. The whole purpose of the raid was to “catch illegals.” Two large vans had been brought for that purpose, and soon the vans were filled up with people. The whole raid was indiscriminate—it just simply nailed anyone who looked “Latino.” The immigration and police agents made no distinction of whether any of the apartment occupants were undocumented, were legally in this country, or were U.S. citizens. The immigration agents had no lists of who of any of the occupants were, or if they had committed any crimes. Worse, neither the immigration agents nor any of the police officers had warrants for any specific criminal activities, nor any arrest warrants.
There were a number of serious problems with this type of raid to begin with. First, there were no warrants. Second, there was no evidence of any criminal activity, nor none observed. Finally, a person’s immigration status cannot serve as a reason to stop and point guns at people which is what the immigration agents and the police did. This whole raid was conducted against people who looked “Latino.” If such a raid was ever done in an upper-middle class, non-Hispanic white neighborhood then there would have been a major investigation coupled with lawsuits and wide-spread media coverage. There was minimal to no media coverage of this raid because the residents in this apartment complex were largely poor and were on the periphery of local society.
But they did fight back. The apartment occupants contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU took up their case. The ACLU argued that the residents of the apartment complex in question had committed no crime, the police and immigration authorities had no warrants for search and arrest, and that the local apartment residents were treated improperly simply because they were “Latino.” The whole case was settled out-of-court with the Nashville Police Department paying $310,000 to the residents of the apartment complex. This case is important because it sets three important boundaries the lawful authorities cannot cross. First, lawful authorities MUST have search and arrest warrants regardless of circumstances. Second, no lawful authorities must ever mistreat nor threaten anyone when a crime has not been committed. Finally, no one must ever be threatened, questioned nor mistreated because of their immigration status or because of “guilt by association.” Whether U.S. immigration and local police departments elsewhere have learned this lesson is another matter. At least this is one more case of the courts making it very clear that all people in the United States, regardless of how rich or poor they are, do have certain inalienable rights.
Guilty for Looking Latino
by Daniel Nardini
In 2010, U.S. immigration officers and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department conducted an immigration raid against a largely Latino occupied apartment complex in Nashville, Tennessee. The whole purpose of the raid was to “catch illegals.” Two large vans had been brought for that purpose, and soon the vans were filled up with people. The whole raid was indiscriminate—it just simply nailed anyone who looked “Latino.” The immigration and police agents made no distinction of whether any of the apartment occupants were undocumented, were legally in this country, or were U.S. citizens. The immigration agents had no lists of who of any of the occupants were, or if they had committed any crimes. Worse, neither the immigration agents nor any of the police officers had warrants for any specific criminal activities, nor any arrest warrants.
There were a number of serious problems with this type of raid to begin with. First, there were no warrants. Second, there was no evidence of any criminal activity, nor none observed. Finally, a person’s immigration status cannot serve as a reason to stop and point guns at people which is what the immigration agents and the police did. This whole raid was conducted against people who looked “Latino.” If such a raid was ever done in an upper-middle class, non-Hispanic white neighborhood then there would have been a major investigation coupled with lawsuits and wide-spread media coverage. There was minimal to no media coverage of this raid because the residents in this apartment complex were largely poor and were on the periphery of local society.
But they did fight back. The apartment occupants contacted the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU took up their case. The ACLU argued that the residents of the apartment complex in question had committed no crime, the police and immigration authorities had no warrants for search and arrest, and that the local apartment residents were treated improperly simply because they were “Latino.” The whole case was settled out-of-court with the Nashville Police Department paying $310,000 to the residents of the apartment complex. This case is important because it sets three important boundaries the lawful authorities cannot cross. First, lawful authorities MUST have search and arrest warrants regardless of circumstances. Second, no lawful authorities must ever mistreat nor threaten anyone when a crime has not been committed. Finally, no one must ever be threatened, questioned nor mistreated because of their immigration status or because of “guilt by association.” Whether U.S. immigration and local police departments elsewhere have learned this lesson is another matter. At least this is one more case of the courts making it very clear that all people in the United States, regardless of how rich or poor they are, do have certain inalienable rights.