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CONTINUING AFTERMATH OF CHANDLER, ARIZONA ‘ALIEN ROUNDUP’: ANOTHER LAWSUIT AND A CHANGE IN POLICE POLICY
Two weeks after the city of Chandler, Arizona refused a settlement for $ 400,000 with 39 people claiming their civil rights were violated during a July 1997 police action searching for illegal immigrants, a lawsuit seeking $ 8.7 million in damages was filed in federal court. This is the second suit filed as a result of the roundup. The first suit, brought by 26 people and seeking $ 35 million, was settled last February for $ 400,000. Kent Turley, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the second suit, said the settlement offer remains on the table, but that his clients will not settle for less than the city paid to settle the first suit. The suit claims the police were negligent in performing a search that was itself unconstitutional due to the racially discriminatory manner in which the search was conducted. Many U.S. citizens and legal residents were stopped and interrogated because they were Hispanic.
As part of the settlement of the first suit the Chandler City Council has also adopted a policy statement outlining how local police may and may not deal with illegal immigrants. Under the new policy, the police may arrest an illegal immigrant for theft, assault, and any felony, and then call the INS. The police are not, however, allowed to stop, detain or question anyone for purposes of determining their citizenship, nor may they arrest anyone for violating federal immigration law. The police are also forbidden form reporting to the INS people whom they suspect of working without authorization whom they have caught in routine traffic violations.