Immigration activists say the man pulled over on Sunday would have never told police he was in the country illegally. That prompted a protest and arrest of two more women. Here is my report from Sunday: kvoa/news/women-crawl-under-border-patrol-truck-to-stop-arrest/ This is the response from the protest group: Advocates clarify Tucson Police Department’s misinformation about police, immigration traffic stop Southside worker whose immigration arrest sparked back-to-back protests sentenced to federal prison following “Operation Streamline” hearing Tucson, AZ- On Sunday, August 10th, 29 year-old Norlan Flores Prado, a 10-year resident of Tucson and recent father of a U.S. citizen daughter, was detained by Tucson Police following a minor traffic stop and held until U.S. Border Patrol agents could investigate Prado’s immigration status. Prado was en route to TMC Hospital to visit his wife and his daughter, born only hours before. His arrest sparked back-to-back protests on August 10 and 11, with community members attempting to prevent Border Patrol from taking Prado into custody. Following his transfer from TPD to Border Patrol custody, Norlan Flores Prado was processed through the controversial “Operation Streamline” program, a mass-prosecution initiative responsible for a spike in the number of Latinos sentenced to federal prison, and which has been the target of intense scrutiny in Tucson and across the U.S. southwest. Prado was given a 30-day sentence at CCA-CADC Florence, Arizona and now faces permanent separation from his family and community in Tucson, all due to the rogue actions of the Tucson Police Department. Tucson Police Department spokesman Sgt. Chris Widmer claims that Prado’s traffic stop was the result of an improper right turn near the intersection of 22nd St and Columbus, and that Prado immediately identified himself as an undocumented immigrant causing officers to contact the Border Patrol. Widmer’s claim has been repeated by TPD chief Robert Villaseñor, and presented as fact by various media outlets. Friends and allies from Tucson’s Southside Workers Center--of which Prado is a member--are disputing TPD’s account. They point out that Prado routinely led “Know Your Rights” trainings and facilitated role-playing exercises involving exactly the type of traffic stop in which Prado was detained. In a phone call from CBP the Sunday of his arrest, Prado confirmed that: “At no point did I state or imply to the officers that I was undocumented. I know my rights.” Says Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa, an organizer at the Southside Worker Center: “TPD’s account contradicts Norlan’s knowledge on his civil rights, and it makes us wonder whether the agency is intentionally trying to cover-up unconstitutional practices.” In its 2012 ruling on Arizona’s SB1070, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that any policy or practice that would “require state officers to delay the release of detainees for no reason other than to verify their immigration status” would be “unreasonable” and “raise constitutional concerns.” The American Civil Liberties Union has filed two Notices of Claim against the City of Tucson alleging constitutional and civil rights violations related to TPD’s enforcement of federal immigration law.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:06:36 +0000
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