Even before Gov. Jan Brewer signed Bill SB1070, way before, sheriff officers and rogue police from different departments have been stopping brown people under the suspicion of being in the country undocumented and abusing their powers. They have been proving into the immigration's status of Hispanics in hopes to discover undocumented persons and play their power trips and their ethnic grievances. This is what it has been going on in Arizona.
For what I hear their targets are primarily 1.-working class fellows whose English proficiency is not absolute or speak Spanish and 2.-young people even when they are all American. Rogue police officers know they are not fully educated on what their rights are and it is easy to get away with the situation . Rogue police officers are looking to snatch them and sending them to immigration holding tanks.
Some months ago I found a 3rd generation Hispanic college student who was asked to produce his social security card besides his driver’s license. He left the scene with a sense that the request for a SS# was not right but he was not sure and “consulted” with some friends.
I come across this stories without seeking them. It just comes naturally when I’m going around giving away CADENA’s “Know Your Rights Brochures”.
This week when the community got together to rally with Al Sharpton against prop SB1070, I saw the opportunity to give away 200-updated-version of the Know Your Rights Brochures, half of them in English, half of them in Spanish, printed thanks to a generous donor.
This events are always a great opportunity to speak to people that, under other circumstances, I would not be able to communicate with and opens my vision of what is really going on the streets.
I had the chance to talk to a lady who was stopped by police, questioned extensively, searched in all her possessions, handcuffed and put on the back of a patrol car EVEN WHEN SHE HAS A DRIVER’S LICENSE AND A SOCIAL SECURITY CARD !!!! The reason, the officer did not believe that she was legal in the country, and apparently, she has the name of a person police is looking for or that is what they told her. Police officers look over and over her documents, asked repeatedly if they were false and scratched them on with their fingernails.
What part of Legal do you do not understand???? The searched continued and went into her possessions, the car contents and her purse while she waited handcuffed on the back of the police car. Finally the police gave up and she was dismissed without an apology. The lady speaks broken English and was Hispanic which matches my own description.
She was fighting tears as she recounted her story.
Fortunately this lady talked to an immigrant rights organization and they took pictures of her bruised wrists.
I told her not to remain silent and tell others what it’s going on Arizona even before the implementation of SB1070. Know Your Rights and share the information with others.
Know Your Rights and speak up. This is all we can do.
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