Andrea Guerrero

Andrea Guerrero, an immigration law expert from the American Civil Liberties Union who spoke to EDC at its June 12 meeting, told the group that efforts to control illegal immigration into the United States are compromising civil liberties and rights of both immigrants and U.S. citizens. Guerrero also said that the agencies enforcing immigration laws do so without adequate oversight or accountability, violating fundamental principles of the nation’s constitution.

“This is more than an immigration issue,” Guerrero advised. “We are getting close to some very fundamental infringements on basic civil liberties and civil rights that should concern non-immigrant people.”

Video of Guerrero’s presentation is available on the EDC YouTube Channel.

In a wide-ranging presentation on the immigration situation, Guerrero provided a disturbing review of the costs, in legal and human terms, of the struggle to control illegal immigration. Guerrero, who is field and policy director for the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties and an experienced activist in the immigrants’ rights field, used wrenching reports of abuse by border agents to illustrate points in her remarks.

She began by setting the context. (See the presentation slides.) There are an estimated 1.9 million immigrants in California. One in four Californians is an immigrant. Nearly half of all children in the state have at least one immigrant parent. Immigrants comprise one-third of the state’s labor force and 27 percent of its household income. Immigrants contribute more than $30 Billion to federal tax payments in California, and immigrant-headed households contribute $500 more each year to Social Security than non-immigrant households. Two-thirds of immigrants are naturalized citizens or permanent residents. The remaining one-third are undocumented.

Guerrero described the historical evolution of a zone within 100 miles of the international border in which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been given the right to check anyone for immigration status. Within 25 miles of the border, she reported, that power includes entering private property without a warrant, though it does not include entering a residence. She said this federal authority, not given to local law enforcement, is supposed to end when a person states their citizenship. She noted that federal authorities do not have the right to search vehicles or ask individuals to get out of a vehicle, but “what we’re seeing is that they are asserting that power.”

She described how the U.S. Congress has given DHS the right to deport immigrants without due process, and how the agency has been exempted from environmental and other laws as it builds the border fence.

“Abuse of immigrants is one the rise, and we’re seeing all kinds,” Guerrero reported. Abuse includes physical and verbal attacks, sexual assault and rape, denial of food, water and basic necessities, denial of access to medical care, separation of children from their parents, denial of consular access and telephone calls and warrantless searches. And there is no way to complain, she said. “Lack of accountability and oversight is the number one issue,” she said.

“Where is the balance of power here?” Guerrero asked, comparing the situation to the usual understanding of checks and balances in U.S. government. “I don’t see any check on this agency – there’s no accountability.”

She said the passage of SB 1070 in Arizona, popularly known as the ‘show your papers’ law, “fuels this fire.” She called the law “extremely Draconian” and also unconstitutional, as a violation of the 14^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “It invites racial profiling by compelling local police officers to question the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect to be undocumented,” she noted. “Local police agencies are already setting up checkpoints outside of mobile home parks and questioning people as they come out,” she reported. “That’s the sort of thing we said would happen and we didn’t even have to wait for the law to go into effect.”

She questioned the need for deploying thousands of National Guard personnel to the international border, recently ordered by President Obama. She noted that the Guard is usually called out only for emergencies. She noted that immigration flows are down, crime is down, murders are down along the length of the border. “I’m not sure what the emergency is – I think it’s an electoral emergency,” she remarked.

During the question-and-answer session, Guerrero reported results of a poll the ACLU conducted in San Diego County. She said the poll found two-thirds of residents support legalization, and that is true in “every Congressional District, including yours (the 50^th).” Most people, she said, think legalization “is a practical approach,” though they may support it for various reasons. She also reported that when presenting immigration issues to people who are undecided on the issue, it is often helpful to remind them that immigrants are hard-working people of faith with strong family values. These characteristics resonate with most U.S. citizens and help establish immigrants as people who share American values.

Guerrero was also asked about Escondido police checkpoints. Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher was in the audience. She said the ACLU has been monitoring the situation in Escondido and has posted to its website the communications between the organization and Chief Maher. She indicated that a court case in process in another California city might clarify the legality of the Escondido checkpoint, but until that issue is resolved, she said the ACLU had recommended that they “be done away with” as a matter of policy.

The ACLU accepts complaints about law enforcement on immigration or other issues. Visit their website or telephone 619-232-2121.

For additional information and for continuing updates, Guerrero highly recommended a website created by a group of organizations collaborating on immigration issues in the San Diego area, www.immigrantSanDiego.org