Bill Montgomery's Smoking Gun: ICE PowerPoint Shows Monty's Minions How to Deport More Immigrants
Though the presentation covers state charges related to controlled substances, firearms and domestic violence, of particular interest are "crimes involving moral turpitude," or crimes that are inherently reprehensible, which include fraud and taking the identity of another.
County prosecutors have a wide array of state statutes to choose from when prosecuting individuals who are suspected, say, of working with a false Social Security Number, even in using one subsection of a law versus another. Some charges are considered CIMTs, some are not
A CIMT conviction means the individual will likely be deported, despite the best efforts of an immigration attorney.The ICE PowerPoint identifies the possible "litigation challenge" for each state charge, and how to get around it.
For instance, a straight up forgery charge under Arizona Revised Statute 13-2002 has no immigration challenge, no defense for the alien involved, and so no way for him or her to remain in the country after conviction.
But with criminal impersonation, or ARS 13-2006, the subsection charged can have life-changing consequences for the alien. One section is not considered a CIMT, allowing for a defense in immigration court and a possible stay of removal, while two others, "require reprehensible conduct," according to the PowerPoint.
I can already hear the cries of, "Who cares? Deport 'em all." But the existence of this PowerPoint presentation is an embarrassment both to the federal government and to the county attorney's office, with serious civil rights implications.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that the states cannot "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
That is, it indicates "persons," and does not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens.
Also, Montgomery's office could be accused of violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits institutions receiving federal funds, such as the MCAO, from discriminating "on the basis of race, color, and national origin."
In other words, if Montgomery has one rule for those from another country and another for U.S. citizens, such a practice would be in violation of federal law.
Montgomery was put on notice of possible Title VI violations by the MCSO in a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez dated December 15, 2011.
Perez found reasonable cause to believe that Arpaio's boys and girls in beige engage "in a pattern and practice of discriminatory policing," specifically, the "racial profiling of Latinos."
The letter detailed alleged violations of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well violations of Title VI and section 14141 of the U.S. code, and it specifically called out the MCSO's Criminal Employment Squad, which executes Arpaio's anti-immigrant raids.
"The CES targets worksites where most, if not all, of the employers are Latino," reads the letter.
(It's worth noting that ICE itself no longer does workplace raids, and has a policy of not criminally prosecuting unlawful workers unless the employer is prosecuted.)
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