/Hancock sheriff’s office agrees to stop racial profiling, ‘get out of the business of immigration enforcement’

Hancock sheriff’s office agrees to stop racial profiling, ‘get out of the business of immigration enforcement’

This agreement is the result of a lawsuit that was filed in November by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Mississippi Center for Justice. The organizations announced Wednesday. Gillian Gillers (SPLC senior staff attorney), said that the case was a stark reminder of how costly it is for local law enforcement to attempt to perform the federal immigration agent’s job. The agreement will see several new policies adopted by the sheriff’s department. These policies stipulate that no race, ethnicity, or national origin will be used to decide whether an officer stops, questions, or arrests someone. Officers may also not detain or stop individuals on suspicion they are not legally present in the United States. They can not prolong a traffic stop in order to determine immigration status, or transfer an individual to immigration authorities. The agreement also stipulates that the sheriff’s department will make public any traffic stop data. The original lawsuit was filed by Stephanie and Marcos Martinez on behalf of their three children. It claimed that the family was unlawfully stopped and held for four hours in 2017 because a deputy at the sheriff’s office misunderstood their race and ethnicity. According to the suit, the deputy demanded information from the family about their citizenship and confiscated their U.S. passports and permanent residence cards. According to the SPLC, the defendants in the suit deny liability and deny the allegations.