Policing Minnesota’s immigration laws

12/14/2005

A St. Cloud legislator wants to block city ordinances that limit the role of police in enforcing immigration laws.

Jean Hopfensperger, Star Tribune
Last update: December 13, 2005 at 9:59 PM

Police in Minneapolis and St. Paul would have the authority to question people at random about their immigration status under proposed legislation that would throw out the two cities’ ordinances against the practice.

Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, said Tuesday he would introduce legislation next session that would try to prevent cities from enacting ordinances that limit the role of police in enforcing immigration laws.

“Especially in this time of war, we should not be discouraging law enforcement from enforcing the law,” Knoblach said.

The ordinances in Minneapolis and St. Paul prevent the police from asking about immigration status if it’s the only basis for questioning or detaining someone. However, they do not forbid police from asking for that information if it is relevant to a police action or an investigation, said Pete Crum, spokesman for the St. Paul Police Department.

Knoblach also disagrees with the Minneapolis ordinance because it states that immigrants using a foreign driver’s license, passport or other consulate-issued document should not be subject to a higher level of scrutiny.

Knoblach’s proposed legislation drew swift reaction from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who charged that his city’s ordinance was “being used as a ideological hot button.”

The police and the federal immigration service “need to be separate in order for police to provide safety to communities of different cultures,” Rybak said. “This is especially true in areas such as domestic abuse.”

It’s critical that immigrants feel comfortable calling the police to report crimes or cooperate with an investigation, Rybak said. The mayor recalled talking with one couple who were afraid to report a relative’s sexual abuse for fear of repercussion even though they were legal immigrants.

Knoblach’s proposal comes a year after Gov. Tim Pawlenty asked Minneapolis and St. Paul to amend or repeal their ordinances. Pawlenty, at the time, called the laws “really ridiculous.”

Knoblach said he hoped his proposal would forge closer cooperation between immigration officers and police officers.

But Crum, of the St. Paul police, said the philosophy behind the ordinances is to prevent the police from “becoming an arm” of the immigration service. Said Crum, “When we’re investigating a criminal offense, we don’t want to discourage anyone from talking to us.”