The 4th amendment protects citizen not illegals.
Via Helena IR:
A Mexican national living nearly a decade in the Bitterroot Valley will likely be deported after he was sentenced Monday in federal court in Missoula for illegal re-entry into the United States despite allegations by his family and attorney that he was apprehended unlawfully.
Roberto Cruz Cisneros, 45, was sentenced to time served, about five months in custody, and released to the federal officials to begin the deportation process, splitting him from his family, who watched from the courtroom gallery in tears.
Immigration attorneys say defending these cases is difficult, in large part because of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens from illegal search and seizure, does not provide protections to a suspect’s identity in the same way it does for physical evidence.
Shahid Haque, an immigration attorney in Helena who represents Cisneros and his family in his upcoming deportation proceedings, told the Missoulian in an email Monday that police stopped Cisneros’ vehicle in February as he was headed to his home in Hamilton for “no discernible reason.” The officer did not indicate to Cisneros that he had violated any laws, but took his identification, asked him where he lived and let him go.
A month later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Hamilton police showed up at his home to arrest him on the charge of illegal re-entry after an order of deportation, Haque said.
Additionally, Cisneros’ family told the Missoula Independent’s Susan Shepard last week the ICE agents who arrested Cisneros produced no warrant for his arrest and entered their home without explicit permission.
Such allegations by the defendant’s family may kill a case if that defendant was, for example, facing distribution charges and agents unlawfully seized drugs. But in cases like these, the Supreme Court has ruled that a person’s identity can’t be kept out of evidence, even if law enforcement conceded that an unlawful arrest, search or interrogation occurred.
“So even though the Hamilton police officer had no right to pull Roberto over in the first place, he was allowed to pass his name and address to ICE to have him arrested,” Haque said in an email to the Missoulian. “This is fundamentally unfair, as it allows the police to benefit from violating a person’s rights and encourages more violations.”
During Monday’s sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen named the ways Cisneros had been a productive member of the community as a hard worker, “outstanding” father and as a taxpayer.
Last deported from the country in 1999, Cisneros returned in 2011 and has been living and working in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valley areas since.
“He returned to this country to be with his family,” Christensen said. “That, in a nutshell, is what I have before me. … But unfortunately, he is in this country illegally.”
Before handing down the sentence, Christensen asked Cisneros if he wanted to make a statement to the court.
“No,” Cisneros said through an interpreter. “I’m in your hands now.”