Traffic Stop Tests Arizona's SB 1070 Immigration law
Although Arizona's SB 1070 anti-immigration bill was passed in 2010, then challenged in the US Supreme Court, that ruled it was legal to ask for proof of legal residence, it has never been tested-until now.
This is how the most typical situation will evolve for many. Take the case of Araceli Sanchez of Bullhead City, Arizona. She is illegal. Her family brought her across at age four. She went to school there and for all practical purposes, is American. She is fluent native-like in English. She has a child. She is clean as a whistle as her background checks showed.
On her way to buy her daughter some items for her birthday, she was driving and made an illegal turn. A cop saw it and stopped her. She was unable to produce two requested items: a driver's license and social security card. She had neither. Even though she explained that she was in the process of become a US citizen, the police took her into custody. The police then handed her over to Border Patrol and transported to Blythe, California, then back to Yuma, AZ. At Yuma, she was offered a free ride back Mexico. She refused. Now, she was headed for a hearing to remove her from the US.
Oh, I forgot one thing: she is married to a US citizen, the daughter is a US citizen. her husband at the time was getting ready to be shipped off to Germany with his US Army 2nd Cavalry Regiment. None of this made a hoot of difference to his wife's dilemma. Nada. No entiendo! Loco!
The husband was called by his wife from detention and he simply could not believe it. He called local congressman, which did no good. He was packing the time all this happened. His wife spent two days in detention centers and then shipped to another on the third day. Her husband tried to contact her while in the center, it was not allowed.
By the end of the third day, Araceli was released and she returned home. ICE and Homeland security found nothing bad in her background and because of her situation, released her. But, the US Supreme Court indicated in its decision is would not take more than 10 minutes to determine the legality of person stopped, huh, it took two Federal agencies three days!
Araceli's husband is now in Germany and she is totally paranoid of police in AZ.