The INS has announced that it will, in cooperation with the US Justice Department, investigate a round-up of illegal aliens in Arizona in July that also included US citizens of Hispanic descent. The operation was jointly conducted by the INS, Border Patrol and city police in Chandler, Arizona. The Attorney General of Arizona has accused the agencies of targeting individuals in the round-up based on their race.
Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods issued a highly critical 34 page report accusing the INS, Border Patrol and city police of serious civil rights abuses that were a result of policy, “not the action of a few rogue cops.” The report cites a pattern of behavior where INS officials stop individuals because of the way they look. The report accuses the authorities of breaking into homes, businesses and schools without warrants or probably cause and often late at night. The report also accuses officials of using threats and intimidation to get results.
Some of the US citizens rounded up have sued the city of Chandler, Arizona for $35 million. One specific abuse cited was that of individuals being taken from their homes in a trailer park late at nigh after officials asked the manager of the trailer park to identify Hispanics living there. Another involved a seven and ten year old being told by authorities while waiting for a ride in front of their elementary school that they would be sent to Mexico if they did not carry their birth certificates with them. The children were born in the US and are US citizens.
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