Bellingham, WA - New video from the Bellingham Police Department shows how a traffic stop ended with an undocumented teenage driver in a fed...
Bellingham, WA - New video from the Bellingham Police Department shows how a traffic stop ended with an undocumented teenage driver in a federal detention center. An immigrant rights group says the police officer violated policy when he called in the Border Patrol. Alfredo Juarez, now 16, watched body camera video of his June traffic stop for the first time today. A Bellingham police officer stopped Juarez for driving the wrong-way on a one-way road near downtown. He does not dispute the officer stopping him, but claims the way the officer questioned him was racial profiling. "I was panicking a lot," said Juarez of his state of mind during the traffic stop. Juarez admits he repeatedly lied to the officer, saying he was 18 years old when he was actually 15 and driving underage without a driver’s license. Juarez says he feared getting deported. “If I say 18, I would get a ticket and I’d pay it,” he thought. “If I say 15, they would deport me.” In the body camera video released by the police department, Juarez lies tells the officer he has a California license. The officer runs the name, date of birth Juarez provided but did not find any records. “Either you got some warrants out for your arrest in California or you’re not permitted to be in the U.S., which I don’t believe that’s the case, but something’s not adding up here,” the officer is heard saying. When the officer is unsuccessful in identifying him, the questioning then turns to Juarez’s legal status. “When did you become a U.S. Resident, or are you one,” asked the officer. “No, no, I’m not one,” responded Juarez. “Ok, how’d you get into the States,” asked the officer. Bellingham Police Department policy states officers should use "reliable sources" to determine a person's identity without regard to immigration status. But BPD said policy is “subjective” to the responding officer. "The police officer chose to call border patrol,” said Maru Villalpando of Latino Advocacy now located in Bellingham. “Chose to believe what he wanted to believe.” Immigration officials responded to the traffic stop and took Juarez to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma where he finally confessed his age and was released to his parents. “Yes, he made a mistake, like all teenagers,” said Villalpando. “Does that mean you need to be placed in deportation proceedings? No. Those are traffic stops. Those are matters that should be kept in level of local police enforcement. It should not reach to that level of not knowing where your son is. Looking for your son for 12 hours without knowing where he is.” The police department’s spokesman said had Juarez told the truth from the beginning, the officer would not have called Border Patrol for help. The high school junior said he believes he was questioned like that because of his color. Juarez no longer faces deportation - but has filed a complaint against BPD. Less
