Campaign to End Racial Profiling
Unless you have been living under a rock, we’ve all heard
the saying, “Driving While Black”. Deborah Jacobs, in her capacity as Executive
Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey, once said,
“We want to send a message to the victims about their rights, and to the state
about its obligations. We need real police reform and we need to answer the
suffering of the many victims of the New Jersey Turnpike."
A few years ago,
"Getting the State of New Jersey to stop racial profiling is like pulling
teeth," headlined a new advertisement unveiled at a press conference in
Newark.
The ad featured
Orange, NJ dentist Dr. Elmo Randolph, an African-American man who was pulled
over approximately 100 times over a five-year period without ever receiving a
ticket. In the ad, Dr. Randolph describes his experience with the police,
stating that, "The police searched my car and I had to prove to the
troopers that being an African-American man in a nice car doesn't mean that I
am a drug dealer or car thief." Flash forward to 2017, not much has
changed.
According to Civil
Rights attorney, Brian Figeroux, of Figeroux & Associates, the Campaign to
End Racial Profiling, failed because Congress, President Bush, Jr. and
President Obama, for “national security” purposes needed the cover of law to
“target” Muslims; consequently, African Americans, Hispanics, other minorities
suffered. Congress and the President
need to end racial profiling not ban Muslims.
What is Racial Profiling?
The term “racial profiling” means the practice of a law
enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived
race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity or sexual
orientation in selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous
investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law
enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except when
there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and timeframe, that
links a person with a particular characteristic described in this paragraph to
an identified criminal incident or scheme. – H. R. 1933 (End Racial Profiling
Act of 2015)
According to One
America (www.OneAmerica.org), a civil rights organization, these communities
regularly experience the injustices of racial profiling:
•Members of African American, Native American and Latino
(Hispanic) communities are stopped and searched more often, for example, when
driving while black or brown, than whites;
•Since September 11, 2001, members of Arab, Muslim and South
Asian communities have increasingly been searched, interrogated and detained in
the name of national security, oftentimes labeled terrorism suspects when in
reality many were only charged with misdemeanors or minor immigration
violations, if they were charged at all.
One America, as a
civil rights organization, “advances the fundamental principles of democracy
and justice at the local, state and national levels by building power within
immigrant communities in collaboration with key allies.”
The following is an
email interview with Rich Stolz, Executive Director of OneAmerica.org, concerning
his organization’s advocacy supporting the End Racial Profiling Act, Revising
the 2003 DOJ guide on racial profiling and eliminating the DHS programs.
1) Were the changes you recommended under the Obama
administration ever implemented?
The Department of Justice issued a revised profiling
guidance in 2014, and that guidance responded to the majority of our
recommendations. However, the guidance
excluded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which raised significant
concerns over what accountability would apply to DHS and its various
sub-agencies.
2) If those changes were implemented, what is their current
status under the Trump administration?
The guidance is still official policy for non-DHS agencies,
at least until the new Attorney General decides to rescind or change it. There are additional profiling guidances that
agencies like Customs & Border Protection did adopt. We are concerned, however, that the executive
orders recently announced under the Trump Administration contradict the existing
guidance.
3) Does your organization recommend the same policy advice
to the Trump administration? If so, what lobbying efforts are you currently
working on?
Our recommendations have not changed. From our perspective,
profiling is not only unconstitutional but it’s poor law enforcement
practice. We will continue to advocate
for reforms at DHS and its element agencies, but the leadership of these
agencies have either been less open to these discussions, or there are still
positions not yet filled. Our other
venue is Congress, where these issues can be raised in the context of oversight
and confirmation hearings. Finally, we
anticipate that members of Congress will be introducing the End Racial and
Religious Profiling Act, which will be a vehicle to build coalitions and
advocacy against profiling in Congress and in the broader community. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights is an excellent resource that provide more detailed information on the
content of that legislation.
End Racial Profiling Act of 2015
Prohibits any law enforcement agent or agency from engaging
in racial profiling. Grants the United States or an individual injured by
racial profiling, the right to obtain declaratory or injunctive relief.
Requires federal
law enforcement agencies to maintain adequate policies and procedures to
eliminate racial profiling and to cease existing practices that permit racial
profiling.
Requires state or
local governmental entities or state, local or tribal law enforcement agencies
that apply for grants under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant
Program and the Cops on the Beat Program to certify that they maintain adequate
policies and procedures for eliminating racial profiling and have eliminated
any existing practices that permit or encourage racial profiling.
Authorizes the
Attorney General to award grants and contracts for the collection of data
relating to racial profiling and for the development of best practices and
systems to eliminate racial profiling. Requires the Attorney General to issue
regulations for the collection and compilation of data on racial profiling and
for the implementation of this Act.
End Racial and Religious Profiling Act of 2017
This bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ben Cardin
(D-MD) on February 16, 2017.
As stated by the Human Rights Watch:
The End Racial and Religious Profiling Act would prohibit
federal, state, and local law enforcement from targeting a person based on
actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender
identity, or sexual orientation without trustworthy information that is
relevant to linking a person to a crime. The bill would require law enforcement
to maintain adequate policies and procedures designed to eliminate profiling,
including increased data collection in order to accurately assess the extent of
the problem. The bill would also require training for law enforcement officials
on issues of profiling and mandates the creation of procedures for receiving,
investigating and responding to complaints of alleged profiling.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has
reached the congressionally mandated 65,000 visa H-1B cap for fiscal
year 2018. USCIS has also received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions
to meet the 20,000 visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, also known as
the master’s cap.
