Question for LEO's

Ok, i don't want this thread turning into a shit show, so I am just going to direct it towards any officers on here, as they should know the facts.If anyone else does, please chime in. I have an opinion, but I'll keep it to myself.I was discussing this with my lawyer friend yesterday, and we were both curious:

Say an illegal alien gets stopped for a traffic violation. Since here in CA, and most other states illegals can't get a license, how do cops identify them? They can pretty much make up any name they want. How are they written a traffic ticket if there is no way of knowing who they are? Do they just get a ticket, and the system trusts them to pay it? Are they just let go? I know there's the possibility of arresting them, calling ICE, etc. but that never actually happens. So, what's the procedure?

 

I'm no LEO but from my experience driving without a license usually results in a trip to the jail and a ticket

 

Let me first start by saying the only thing black and white about the job is the car, meaning everything is a grey area. There's never a clear black and white answer even if your lawyer friend says so (no offense, I have lawyer friends too).

It's actually funny you ask that question... I probably shouldn't say this... but I'm at work right now, and funny thing is, I am a Deputy (in CA) and I'm designated by ICE to do a couple immigration related things (287g for those who know what I'm talking about).

So what it comes down to is yes they can completely lie about who they are and essentially get away with it. So long as it's only traffic related stuff, he/she can essentially walk away scott free. Some departments in different areas will take people to the station to positively ID them prior to releasing them as a cite and release. Other departments will not take someone for something "small" like that. It all depends on the department policy.

When they actually get caught is when they're arrested on "arrestable" charges. They'll get fingerprinted at the jail/station and it gets entered into an ID system. After that, they can only get away with stuff if they don't get fingerprinted, which can be often.

I know it can be frustrating, but that's the job of Law Enforcement, the legal balance of what we can do and what we should do. If I took everyone that didn't have a license to the jail to positively ID them, my SGT would have a fit and I would probably look at some time off. There's a thin balance.

Hope that helped..

 

I'm not a LEO, but from my experience from past employees here in Texas, most of them have legit licences.....just not them. They buy and sell these at " mexican bazaars " or flea markets catering to illegals. Some are no longer here or even deceased and not reported. I caught some of these people in the new " E- verify " program for employers.

 

Thank you. This is pretty much exactly what I figured would happen. So I am assuming most of the time, since officers know writing a ticket would be pissing in the wind, they just let them go with a "warning"

 

Although you'll get some slight variations from state to state and dept to dept (policy), I think LT1 gave a very good answer. I'd leave it at that lol. Otherwise, I think you'll get in to specific circumstances or events that will change the answer.

 

And fwiw, a very large % of illegals are encountered and passed on to ice b/c of a traffic offense.