Between January and June of 2007, the Polish consulate in New York City was informed about 45 cases of Polish immigrants who violated immigration law.
Polish Consul Wojciech Łukasiewicz said that these immigrants were arrested and detained for a variety of violations.
“Some of them were arrested while driving down a highway, and a married couple was also arrested while on the Amtrak train,” said Łukasiewicz.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are normally those who conduct arrests of undocumented immigrants. Near the border areas, however, border patrol officers have the same rights as ICE officers.
“Part of our mission is to control the means of transportation near the U.S. borders – buses, trains and airplanes. Our agents make arrests of people from all over the world in many different circumstances, either while they are trying to illegally cross the U.S. border or while traveling,” explained Michael Przybyl, assistant chief patrol agent from the U.S. Border Patrol office in Buffalo.
Border patrol officers also carry out their inspections on Amtrak trains. On July 18, two Polish undocumented immigrants – Michał, 27, and wife Urszula, 24 – were arrested while traveling from New York to Chicago by train. The couple decided to take the train because they were afraid of the airport immigration control, among other things.
According to Amtrak representatives, after September 11, 2001, immigration control inspections have become a standard procedure.
“In order to board the train, passengers must have a valid ID. We do not require a valid U.S. visa from them, but our trains, even the domestic ones, can be inspected by immigration officers at any time. If a passenger doesn’t have a valid U.S. visa, he can be removed from the train,” said Cliff Cole, spokesman for the Amtrak.
Undocumented immigrants could also be stopped while driving a car, though laws in this respect vary from state to state.
The problem often starts when the person in question doesn’t have a valid U.S. driver’s license. “This is when a police officer starts to ask questions. A police officer may also want to check the status of the person being questioned with ICE. If the individual turns out to be undocumented, then the officer has the right to detain such a person and turn him or her in to ICE officers,” said William Tate of the Connecticut State Police Department. “Arresting undocumented immigrants is not our main focus, but it frequently happens because someone breaks the traffic laws. If a person has a valid driver’s license, we do not ask questions about their immigration status.”
Kern Swoboda, spokesperson for the New York State Police, said that local troopers have the right to call ICE agents if a person they are questioning doesn’t have a valid driver’s license or any other documents confirming his or her immigration status. Theoretically speaking, they don’t have the right to hold such a person until immigration officers arrive.
“On the other hand, we have the right to obtain as much information as possible on such an individual – last name, address, etcetera. If someone doesn’t want to cooperate with us, we have the right to hold them until we can establish their identity,” Swoboda said.
Swoboda also informed Nowy Dziennik that a special state police unit operates in the New York near border areas. The officers of this unit have more rights than the rest of troopers.
Amy Von Walter, spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration, said in an earlier interview with Nowy Dziennik that even though her agency is not interested in immigration status in particular, undocumented immigrants may be stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
