ACLU of Arizona sues ICE for access to records about traffic stops

PHOENIX — The ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for not turning over records that will help determine if police officers are illegally prolonging traffic stops to investigate a person’s immigration status.

The lawsuit argues ICE violated the Freedom of Information Act for not responding to a request for records from its Law Enforcement Support Center in Vermont.

“This support center is what most local police reach out to when they have someone they’ve stopped for a traffic offense and they have a reason to believe the person might be undocumented,” said Billy Peard, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Arizona.

A 2015 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear police officers cannot prolong a traffic stop without reasonable suspicion.

Peard said the records from the Law Enforcement Support Center will help “gain better insight” into the interaction that happens between police officers and ICE officials in Arizona and across the nation.

He added that it also will help determine “how long a typical prolonged traffic stop actually is.”

“Are we talking about a three-minute extension of a traffic stop? Are we talking about an average of 30 minutes?” he said. “We’re trying to get a better grasp of those details.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM reached out to ICE for comment but got an automatic response saying its public affairs officers are prohibited by law to work during a government shutdown, which started Dec.22.

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