Break the law, suffer the consequences.
Via ADN:
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Palmer Police Department on Thursday, saying three officers made a false arrest by holding a man behind bars solely because of his immigration status.
The case, which also names a police dispatcher, wades into a national debate over local-versus-federal immigration priorities and aims to set a precedent in Alaska.
It began when police were called early on the morning of Aug. 27 to a bar fight in which, the ACLU says, the man was beaten and bloodied.
“The hope is that when crime victims, who often are immigrants, call the police, the police will come to help and not to arrest,” said Casey Reynolds, spokesman for the ACLU of Alaska.
The ACLU says Alex Caceda, 38, had been working at Klondike Mike’s Saloon in Palmer when a bouncer attempted to throw out three men involved in a confrontation with a bartender who had just finished her shift.
Caceda was attempting to come to the aid of the bartender and was beaten in the melee, the attorneys say. When Palmer police arrived to sort things out, a wounded Caceda thought they wanted to talk to him because he was the victim of an attack, according to the lawsuit.
Instead, Caceda left in handcuffs. Police reports obtained by the ACLU in the case say officers determined that Caceda was living in the United States illegally.
“Caceda was an illegal alien and had a U.S. Immigration Detainer warrant for his arrest,” wrote Palmer police officer Jamie Hammons. “I confirmed the warrant was active and arrested Caceda.”
Caceda is from Peru and was living in the United States illegally, having overstayed a non-immigrant visa by several years, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. Court records show he has no apparent criminal history in Alaska.[…]
“Although he was undocumented at the time of this incident … (he) is currently applying for an immigration visa as a spouse of a U.S. citizen (IR1), which will make him eligible for a green card,” the complaint says.
The lawsuit argues that the arrest violated the searches and seizures clause of the Alaska Constitution. The complaint calls for a Superior Court judge to declare that Palmer police have no authority to make arrests and detain people for civil immigration violations — even when requested to do so by federal immigration officers.
HT: TAH