* * Irving police arrest activist Carlos Quintanilla * 08:59 PM CST on Thursday, November 15, 2007*
*By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL and BRANDON FORMBY / The Dallas Morning News * [image: Carlos Quintanilla] Irving PD Carlos Quintanilla IRVING – The driving force behind recent protests against Irving police immigration policies didn't get to attend the latest rally he had planned for Thursday at City Hall. Carlos Quintanilla spent most of the day in jail after being arrested by Irving police on outstanding warrants after he had concluded a television interview. Police said Mr. Quintanilla, leader of Dallas-based Accion America, had seven outstanding warrants – mostly traffic citations – from police in Dallas and Farmers Branch and the Dallas County sheriff's office. He was arrested after an Irving police lieutenant saw him giving an interview to a reporter in the 1000 block of East Irving Boulevard. Police said Thursday that they became aware of Mr. Quintanilla's warrants when they performed a background check after he applied for a parade permit last month. He was told to take care of the warrants before returning to Irving or face arrest, police said. Mr. Quintanilla was being held at Irving jail late Thursday in lieu of $3,014 bail and could not be reached for comment. Only about three dozen protesters, mostly Hispanics, gathered at Irving City Hall by 4:30 p.m. Thursday for the latest protest of the Police Department's policy of turning over arrestees suspected to be illegal immigrants to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. That turnout was dramatically lower than what had been expected and promoted. It also was much lower than the several hundred people who turned out for similar rallies in Irving in September and October. At the October rally, a group that supports the Criminal Alien Program also rallied to voice its support of police. The Citizens for Immigration Reform also will rally again at 10 a.m. Saturday at Irving City Hall. Some of Mr. Quintanilla's supporters said he views his arrest as an example of the disparities in how people are treated in Irving. "He wanted me to pass on the message that 1,638 people were arrested [since last fall], and they didn't have the opportunity to be bailed out because they are not here legally," said Abimael Cerda, event coordinator for Accion America. "Carlos is not being singled out," Irving Mayor Herbert Gears said. "We've been aware of his warrants for some time now, and it just happened that he encountered a police officer and was arrested." Irving police spokesman David Tull said police didn't arrest Mr. Quintanilla at last month's rally because they didn't want to incite the large crowd. Irving has been in the national spotlight recently for the large number of suspected illegal immigrants turned over to immigration officials. The Police Department last year began using the federal Criminal Alien Program. Since then, they have turned over more than 1,600 arrestees. The program puts Irving police in round-the-clock contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, who are notified by Irving if they have a person who may be in the U.S. illegally. The immigration enforcement agency then investigates the person's status and in some cases starts deportation proceedings. Although the immigration enforcement agency does not track the numbers of detainers by cities nationally, Mr. Gears believes Irving is the No. 1 city in the U.S. for number of deportation detainers placed on jail inmates. That has drawn fire from many Hispanics and acclaim from anti-illegal immigration groups. Supporters of the program say Irving officials are just following the letter of the law and taking advantage of a federal program that is available to all cities. Opponents say that officers racially profile, harass Hispanics about citizenship status and effectively create an atmosphere of fear within the Hispanic community. Several attendants Thursday said the low turnout was due to fears of police harassment. Several said police are not checking the immigration status only of people in jail but asking for it whenever they come into contact with people. "Things have gotten worse" in recent weeks, said Irving resident Ana Garcia, 38. Some of those who attended the rally also told stories about police pulling them over and asking them about the number of people who live in their homes and what their citizenship status is – yet not issuing any citations. But police and city officials have repeatedly denied accusations that officers racially profile or ask for proof of citizenship. They maintain that police apply the same rules to all people and that those who are arrested on criminal charges then deal with the immigration enforcement agency only if citizenship cannot be proved at the jail. "We've found no evidence of those allegations, and we've looked into several complaints," Mr. Gears said. Thursday's rally came one day after Mexican President Felipe Calderon blasted what he called "the growing harassment" of Mexicans in the U.S. He expressed concerns over recent U.S. immigration raids and what he said are U.S. presidential candidates using migrants as "symbolic hostages." Before his arrest Thursday, Mr. Quintanilla said he and about 150 other Hispanic leaders from around the nation met with President Calderon on Wednesday. Accion America leaders said they also planned to express their opposition to the Criminal Alien Program at the Irving City Council meeting later Thursday night. "Today is the first time we will see the faces, the eyes of the council members ... the white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant City Council members of a city that's 43 percent Hispanic," Mr. Quintanilla said earlier Thursday. He said the group plans to pressure council members to end the city's use of program or resign because they don't represent the majority of Irving residents. Last week, Irving resident Manuel Benavidez filed a federal voting rights lawsuit against the city of Irving and its nine council members, alleging that the council's at-large voting system effectively denies representation to the city's Hispanics. The lawsuit requests that a U.S. District Court declare that the at-large method violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It also asks that the city be ordered to disband at-large voting and develop a new system of electing council members. *This report also includes material from The Associated Press.* E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] and [EMAIL PROTECTED]<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- Jorge Mujica --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Internet group address: http://groups.google.com/group/ChicagoMayDay To send e-mail: [email protected] To unsuscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
