Alleged Racial Profiling ICE Stops Bolster Motion To Suppress Theory

On May 31, 2006, civil rights lawyer Luis Carrillo in California held a press conference to demand a federal investigation into desert highway stops that Mr. Carrillo called a dragnet based on racial profiling where they stopped brown-skinned drivers but not light-skinned drivers. Over 600 people were detained along interstate highway 40 from May 19 to May 24.

If the racial profiling allegation is true, it would bolster the need to apply the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule in immigration court proceedings -- the courts must stop what may be widespread, blatant violations of civil rights. The exclusionary rule for 4th Amendment violations should be applied if there is no apparent system for teaching and ensuring that ICE is respecting civil rights.