Sep 18th, 2009
Posted by Rebecca Bernhardt, ACLU of Texas at 2:04pm	Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

CAP Enables "Aggressive" Racial Profiling in Irving, Texas

The C.A.P. Effect, (PDF) a report issued this week by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, sheds new light on the Criminal Alien Program (CAP) program in Irving, Tex., where there has been numerous racial profiling complaints over the past two years. The report proves what many critics already believed: CAP leads to rampant racial profiling. The C.A.P. Effect is based on data from the Irving Police Department gathered by the ACLU of Texas through open records requests and provided to the Warren Institute for study.

Run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CAP program is meant to give local law enforcement officials access to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) information and personnel to facilitate the identification of serious, dangerous criminals and deport them. But the report finds strong evidence to support claims that Irving police engaged in racial profiling of Hispanics, arresting large numbers of people on minor charges in order to filter them through the CAP screening system.

The report found that during the Irving police force's participation in CAP, there was a 150 percent increase in Latino arrests for petty crimes.

Congress has made clear that ICE "should have no greater immigration enforcement priority than to remove deportable aliens with serious criminal histories from the United States." But the results of Irving's aggressive arrest policies don't target serious criminals: Once CAP was implemented in Irving, felony charges only accounted for 2 percent of ICE detainees, while 98 percent of ICE detainees were issued for individuals charged with misdemeanor offenses.

With results like this, it's possible that precious law enforcement resources are being wasted on petty crimes, while dangerous, violent offenders are getting away. One bright spot in the study is that the Warren Institute was able to analyze the data at all. In most jurisdictions participating in CAP, no arrest data is collected and so no one can determine whether racial profiling is happening. DHS should require all CAP jurisdictions to keep data on arrests and ensure that individuals are not targeted because of their race or ethnicity.

Permalink |	Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

1. Paen Says:
   Sep 20th, 2009 at 1:33pm

   The bigoted crusade against the so called illegals is nothing less than an attempt at ethnic cleansing.

2. Hutch Says:
   Sep 20th, 2009 at 6:59pm

   Racial profiling? If they're ILLEGALLY in this country, who cares? I'm a taxpaying CITIZEN of this country, and I do NOT appreciate the likes of you whining ACLU bitches about the "rights" illegals have. If they don't want to go about being here legally, why should we pay their way? One day, when the illegals have taken over this country and YOUR rights have been taken away by them, who are you going to blame? You're obviously to stupid to understand that YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

3. roald Says:
   Sep 21st, 2009 at 12:40pm

   Hutch, see even this comment was posted after being moderated. Please re-read the article and think for a moment. What if the "little brown people" you fear and hate are LEGALLY in this country? They are also being harassed. Would it be OK to harass you because there are ILLEGAL immigrants from Europe?

4. Maggie Says:
   Sep 21st, 2009 at 3:59pm

   I believe that dangerous criminals began with petty crimes. If they want to play in this country they need to learn that there are consequences. Who was this college asking these questions? The petty criminal?

5. roald Says:
   Sep 22nd, 2009 at 1:17pm

   Maggie, you are correct. Very few dangerous criminals (with the exception of people who act in a moment of passion, spies, and bankers) do not start as petty criminals. That does not mean that all petty criminals end up committing major crimes. It also does not mean that all people being profiled are criminals of any type. Most mass murders are white males. Would it be acceptable for white males to be harassed?

6. Maggie Says:
   Sep 22nd, 2009 at 5:31pm

   Well they might as well be thrown into the mix, then everyone will be profiled. Thanks for answering my question.

7. Anonymous Says:
   Sep 23rd, 2009 at 5:08pm

   Maggie, think about what you just agreed to. All white males should be "thrown in to the mix." Speaking on behalf of my fellow white males, I am offended. Why should I be stopped based on your new profiling criteria? I've never even committed a felony much less a misdemeanor, but just because I am male and white, I am under suspicion for mass murder? You are so unfair!

8. Maggie Says:
   Sep 24th, 2009 at 11:09am

   #7 No I don't think so. Just imagine how the other people being profiled feel. Most have probably not done anything either.

9. nora Says:
   Sep 24th, 2009 at 11:17am

   I THINK HUTCH SAID IT RIGHT.........NO ONE CAN ARGUE THAT......WE need to take our country back..If they dont like what this country stands for,then they need to go back where they came from and stop whinning like lil bitches.....

10. Kay Says:
    Sep 26th, 2009 at 11:58am

    Immigrants have no rights, the are a liability to our society. They expect every free program that our econonic system has to offer but yet pay no taxes to help compensate. Also a proven fact that our jails are mostly populated with illegal aliens. It's time to wake up. To make matters worse, grumble when we fly our American flag, our God given right. This is our land, it's time for us to take a stand and send their illegal butts back home.

11. roald Says:
    Sep 28th, 2009 at 1:03pm

    nora, Hutch made some very wrong assumptions. The first was that only illegal immigrants are being profiled. Instead it is brown people, eighth-generation citizens, legal immigrants, illegal immigrants, and visitors who are being profiled while white people, some of whom are illegal immigrants are not.

12. roald Says:
    Sep 29th, 2009 at 1:45pm

    Kay... Funny, the Native Americans said the same things about the Pilgrims.

    The wording in your post seems to indicate you cannot tell the difference between legal and illegal immigrants. I hope that I am wrong.

    You won't believe me, but immigrants pay taxes and citizens expect access to free programs. The majority of our prisoners are not illegal immigrants (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/business/30leonside.html)

    Wh o is grumbling when we fly our American flag? Not me and not the ACLU.

    Immigrants, legal and not, are the same generation after generation... mostly people who want to make a better life for themselves and their families. With each group comes their criminals. Irish mobs, Italian Cosa Nostra and Camorra, Jewish mobsters and we judge each group based on their worst. Over time we recognize and correct these prejudices. Shame on you to continue the stereotypes and the hate.

13. SGL of Irving Says:
    Oct 10th, 2009 at 9:39pm

    Interesting back-and-forth here... let’s remember a huge portion of Mexican immigrants are here because our elected legislators passed laws allowing industries to employ them for hard, low-paid work, while exempting the employer from the need to verify the validity of the green card and SS card presented. That said, on those few occasions where I’ve had the chance to observe Irving police deal with undocumented immigrants, they’ve been as fair, polite and considerate as one could wish for.

14. John Says:
    Oct 11th, 2009 at 12:59am

    A country is defined by its borders, culture and language. Citizens have a right to defend their borders and country from illegal immigration. If we did not have immigration laws that were enforced, this country would be invaded by hundreds of millions worldwide,and the ACLU would be out of work.

15. KB Says:
    Oct 15th, 2009 at 12:21pm

    I have no problem if a Spanish person is here legally. However, when they are not, they live in multi-family houses (while not paying multi-family school taxes), raid the food pantries, drive unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured cars, most of the DWI arrests where I live are Latino as are the domestic disputes and now gang interference. And for those who say to the contrary - their own people are the worst offenders when it comes to their housing. I was recently asked in a job interview "Do you speak Spanish?" I live in America - why should I have to learn Spanish? We are making it much too easy for the Spanish population to live here and not have to learn English. I see people in Afghanistan, Africa and other countries speaking English....And as far as the illegals here not making a fair salary...if a person accepts a job for which they have no experience, why should they be paid a lot of money? I worked in a landscape company and the guys with no experience got paid a starting entry level pay and as they got better they got raises, and the guys who had experience got paid very well. And speaking of pay and taxes, these same illegals claimed between 5 - 10 dependents each, which meant almost no taxes were being taken out of their salaries (they even thought they could claim their families back home in another country!) so I don't want to hear about how they are paying their taxes or about how low their salaries are. They are taking jobs from legal American citizens of all nationalities. Illegals out here have been seen in Cadillac Escalades using food stamps in a local store. Come on...get with it. I have no problem with the Spanish community who are here legally. What I am against is the lack of respect for our rules, regulations and language. I was told by a 12 year old Spanish girl that they were pushing Spanish in the schools because it was going to be "the" language in a few years.. out of the mouths of babes. We call it "The Silent Invasion".

16. Anonymous Says:
    Dec 7th, 2009 at 11:09am

    Are you guys so racist that you cannot accept there are races? Chinese people do Kung Fu, black people eat fried chicken, white people wear New Balance- not ALL of them but a lot-these are fun things. A GREAT MAJORITY OF Illegal aliens are (HELLO!NEWS FLASH) Mexican Sorry open your racist eyes and see there is a race involved with the border crossings. My Spanish Mexican friends are EMBARRASSED over these illegal aliens, they say it gives them a bad name. IF THEY CAN SEE IT WHY CANT YOU? ARE YOU BLIND? You're a racist asshole, you're so racist you cant even comfortably admit there's a race involved.

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