Sheriffs’ Deputies Refute Claims Of Civil Rights Infractions

DONA ANA COUNTY, NM – Sheriffs’ Deputies are refuting claims that recent pull-overs and arrests are violating civil rights.

“Operation Stonegarden” is a federally funded program that has allocated $1.6-million dollars in federal aid to the state of New Mexico to combat illegal immigration and narcotic operations.

Recently, the operation has come under fire from critics who claim it violates civil rights.

Officials with the Sheriffs’ office tell ABC-7 their operation is not being fueled by racial profiling. The federal funds allocated to counties in the state merely allows the Sheriffs’ Department to increase their operations, they said.

The operation mostly consists of routine highway traffic stops as a result of suspicious behavior or violation of laws. Their main concern is to prevent illegal drugs from entering the country, officials said.

“What profiling? If you are speeding, it does not matter who you are, I’m going to stop you and write you a ticket,” said Corporal Jim Nash, with the Dona Ana County Sheriffs’ Department, ” it does not matter if you are White, Black, Hispanic, Asian…I don’t care.”

Nash is one of three deputies that patrol a 1,500 square mile radius near Highway 9 in New Mexico. He says he pulls people over because they violate laws, not because they could be undocumented immigrants. “That’s 72 in a 55…as you can see, at this point, I have no idea who or what is driving. All I know is the speed limit is 55 and they are doing 72,” he said, in regards to driver he was about to pull over.

If the identifications of a drivers check out after being pulled over, they are given their ticket and let go, said Nash. If they happen to run into undocumented immigrants during the course of their duties, Border Patrol agents are called out to the scene, he adds.

Nash also dismisses as false claims by the American Civil Liberties Union that they are knocking on doors in Vardo and Chaparral to check for identifications without probable cause.

“Were not going stop in a neighborhood, knock on every single door and say: ‘Oh! You’re Hispanic, I need to see your identification,'” he said.

———–

Written and reported for broadcast by Doug Wernet

Written for the web by Joe Villasana