Judge Says Day Laborer Arrests Not Racial Profiling

Judge won't block deportation of illegal aliens in Danbury
Associated Press-- February 5, 2008

DANBURY, Conn. -- A federal judge has refused to block the deportations of nine men picked up during an undercover operation targeting illegal aliens in Danbury in 2006.

Immigration Judge Michael Straus ruled Monday that Danbury police did not exceed their authority during the 2006 sting at Kennedy Park.

The judge also ruled Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents did not rely on racial profiling to make the arrests.

Straus ruled that "solicitation of day labor in our current culture has a strong correlation to undocumented presence in the United States and lack of employment authorization" and thus it was not unreasonable for police to question the men, nor was it racial profiling.

Straus also said the illegal aliens had no right to counsel prior to being placed in deportation proceedings, nor do officers have to advise individuals of their right not to cooperate.

Lawyers from Yale University's Jerome N. Frank Legal Services plan to appeal.

The case now goes to the Bureau of Immigration Appeals, which could take more than a year to rule. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York is ultimately expected to decide the challenge to Danbury police and methods used by ICE.

"The ruling declares open season on day laborers," said Simon Moshenberg, a student at the Yale Law School's Worker and Immigrant Rights Clinic, which represented the men.

The judge's ruling is the latest round in the legal wrangling over the so-called "Danbury 11." Two of the original 11 have already been deported.

The ruling comes two days before the Danbury Common Council votes whether to deputize local police as federal immigration officers. They did not have such authority in the Sept. 16, 2006, arrest of the nine day laborers.

The men in Monday's case were among those nabbed after an undercover officer in a sport utility vehicle offered laborers work. The men entered the vehicle and were driven a few blocks to ICE agents, who questioned the men about their citizenship status.