{"id":17856,"date":"2018-11-13T15:45:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T20:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=17856"},"modified":"2018-12-28T09:31:16","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T14:31:16","slug":"minneapolis-mayor-to-illegal-aliens-dont-say-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/11\/13\/minneapolis-mayor-to-illegal-aliens-dont-say-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Minneapolis Mayor to Illegal Aliens: Don\u2019t Say Anything!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minneapolis has been a sanctuary city since at least 2003, when its city council passed a sweepingly broad ordinance<\/a> forbidding police from \u201cundertak[ing]any law enforcement action for the purpose of detecting the presence of [illegal aliens], or to verify immigration status[.]\u201d\u00a0 But as always, nothing is ever enough when it comes to protecting illegal aliens, so now Mayor Jacob Frey (D) is rolling out yet another new policy<\/a>\u2014placards in every police car informing illegal aliens of their \u201crights,\u201d conveniently in both English and Spanish.<\/p>\n

Frey first announced the placards idea in his State of the City speech back on May 24<\/a>.\u00a0 He rolled out sample versions in an October 10 press conference. It\u2019d all be absurd to the point of laughable in its gimmickry if it didn\u2019t create real new problems.<\/p>\n

First, the placards are a grossly inaccurate misrepresentation of the law.\u00a0 The \u201cright to remain silent,\u201d famous from endless TV repetition of the Miranda<\/em><\/a> warnings, is a restatement of the U.S. Constitution\u2019s Fifth Amendment privilege<\/a> not to have your statements compelled or used against you in criminal<\/em><\/strong> court.\u00a0 But immigration proceedings, and immigration status, are civil in nature, not criminal.\u00a0 No court has ever held that such a blanket privilege regarding immigration even exists.\u00a0 To the contrary, courts have said immigration status and birthplace, much like name, address, date of birth, etc., are the kind of routine identifying or booking information that law enforcement can always ask about regardless of Miranda<\/em> warnings, because such questions do not call for an \u201cincriminating\u201d response.\u00a0 They\u2019ve also ruled<\/a> that immigration judges are allowed to draw adverse inferences from silence precisely because immigration is civil rather than criminal.<\/p>\n

And as a practical matter, the placards amount to the city hijacking individual officers\u2019 decisions on whether and when to Mirandize someone they have in custody.\u00a0 What\u2019s worse, they also hijack other law-enforcement agencies\u2019 chances to question suspects before they can even get to them, whether it be the Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office if they\u2019re booked into the county jail, or federal immigration officers, or whoever else.\u00a0 Fewer answers from fewer cooperating arrestees will only endanger the public more.<\/p>\n

While the mayor may claim the police chief is on board with his plan, the city\u2019s rank-and-file police officers are understandably and vocally angry.\u00a0 Lieutenant Bob Kroll, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said the placards are<\/a> \u201call too typical of the lunatic left,\u201d and added that \u201c[w]ith 200 shooting victims in the city year to date, the political response is to be sure and advise people who are here ILLEGALLY of their rights, while in the back of a squad car.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply insane.\u201d\u00a0 With the city in thrall to the reckless sanctuary agenda, he suggests \u201cwe can possibly begin to restore the safety of our citizens with help at the state level[.]\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Frey has predictably condemned the union leader\u2019s statements in the past as \u201ccounter to everything we stand for in Minneapolis,\u201d but nevertheless, the help Kroll mentioned might be coming.\u00a0 Anti-sanctuary bills were introduced in both the Minnesota House<\/a> and Senate<\/a> last year, although they made no progress through the legislative process.\u00a0 Hopefully next year something like them will, and put dangerous nonsense like this to an end.