butterbean
Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269
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Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:49 pm Post subject: Illegals face arrest if found driving |
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Illegals face arrest if found driving
Lawyers fight state law affecting Latinos
It was Monday morning, and Juan Herrera was doing what he always did on Monday mornings: driving to work. But on Oct. 2, at 8:25 a.m., New Orleans police officer David Finneman spied what he believed to be an expired license tag on Herrera's 1990 Buick Century. He put on his cruiser's blue lights and pulled Herrera over near the corner of Palmyra Street and North Carrollton Avenue.
In the end, Finneman arrested Herrera not just for an expired license tag but also for driving a motor vehicle without valid immigration documents, a violation of state law.
The law was enacted in 2002, not long after the Sept. 11 attacks, to prevent "terrorism on the highways," according to its author, state Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek.
This law was rarely enforced before Hurricane Katrina brought an influx of Latino workers to the area, said Ramona Fernandez of the Loyola Law Clinic. In fact, Fernandez could think of only one pre-Katrina arrest.
continued:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1170598645228390.xml&coll=1&thispage=1 |
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