Tucson Police Field Blowback After SB 1070 Arrest

By Kate Sheehy
August 12, 2014
Immigrant
Kate Sheehy
Immigrant rights protesters rally in front of the Tucson Police Department on Monday afternoon.

The arrest of an undocumented Latino immigrant by the U.S. Border Patrol brought human rights activists to the streets and to the Tucson Police Department. 

One provision of Arizona’s controversial immigration law SB 1070 remains after most of it was deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Often referred to as “show me your papers,” it requires local police to check immigration status if they suspect someone is in the country illegally.  

The arrest of Norlan Prado on Sunday was a result of this. 

“This police department continues to practice racial discrimination. That’s what it is,” said Isabel Garcia of the immigrant rights group Derechos Humanos.

Garcia was part of protests Monday in front of the Tucson Police Department. Opponents of the law say it enables officers to target Latinos.

Tucson’s Police Chief Roberto Villaseñor said officers stopped Prado because of a traffic violation and when police asked to see his driver’s license, Prado only had a Nicaraguan I.D. and admitted to being in the U.S. illegally for 10 years. Tucson police contacted Border Patrol and that agency arrested him.

Villaseñor said he himself firmly disagrees with the law and was a vocal opponent of it locally and nationally. 

“Federal immigration enforcement is not the job of local law enforcement. It puts us at odds with our community, as you can see what’s happening here right now,” Villaseñor said. 

But he has to abide by state law.  

“What’s hurtful is it seems now that the attack and the attention is on my department and me as if we drafted this law instead of the legislature,” Villaseñor said. 

Tucson
Kate Sheehy
Tucson Chief of Police Roberto Villaseñor

Villaseñor said in July the department began gathering race statistics for immigration checks. They showed officers checked the immigration status of Latinos more than any other group. Villaseñor said that stat is in proportion with the large local Latino population. However, he also noted that a month is not enough to make any conclusions. 

Further statistics shared by the police department showed that from June 12 to Aug. 10 of this year, police made 3,109 immigration checks with Border Patrol. Villaseñor pointed out that in less than two percent of those calls did federal agents even respond and less than one percent resulted in arrests. 

A Border Patrol official in Tucson said Prado remained in agency custody Monday and would appear in front of a judge in federal court Tuesday.