Immigration judge reverses himself on racial profiling ruling

Atlanta lawyer Noemi Puntier, one of Osvaldo Meneses Chaves’ lawyers.

Atlanta lawyer Noemi Puntier, one of Osvaldo Meneses Chaves’ lawyers.

In an about-face, a U.S. immigration judge has reversed his opinion that federal agents engaged in "egregious" racial profiling when they arrested a man as he left his Atlanta apartment complex in March to catch a ride to work.

The judge, Dan Pelletier of U.S. Immigration Court in Atlanta, now has found that the two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made "a reasonable investigatory stop of a suspicious person" when they detained Osvaldo Menese Chavez. Agents later determined that Chavez, a Mexican, is here illegally, Pelletier said.

Pelletier arrived at his new decision after finally hearing testimony from the ICE agents themselves. In his ruling last month, Pelletier found that Department of Homeland Security lawyers had committed "willful misconduct" by refusing to bring the agents to court to testify about the arrest. This stymied Chavez's lawyers' attempts to show that the arrest was the result of racial profiling, Pelletier said.

But Pelletier said he recently decided to reopen the case because of exceptional circumstances.

“This case has been dealing with possible egregious violations of the Fourth Amendment and noncompliance of court-ordered subpoenas, both serious misconducts by the department,” Pelletier wrote. And if there are widespread violations being conducted by immigration officers, “it should be known.”

In his new order, issued last week, Pelletier noted that the two ICE agents testified that they arrived at the apartment complex on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to capture a “criminal alien” who was said to be living there. The agents said they saw Chavez, who appeared to fit the description of the man they were looking for. When one of the officers got out of the car, Chavez took off running.

The agents testified they both wore vests with “POLICE” clearly written on the front and back, Pelletier said. When they caught up to Chavez, he told them he was not legally in the U.S., the decision said.

If Chavez admitted to that, “it was lawful for the officers to arrest them,” Pelletier said. He also found the agents’ testimony to be credible.

Chavez’s lawyers, Noemi Puntier and Michael Saul, expressed disappointment with the judge’s decision.

The ICE agents testified they were looking for a suspect who stood between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10; had black hair, black eyes and “Hispanic complexion;” and weighed 160 to 180 pounds, the lawyers said in a statement.

“The judge concluded that this description did not amount to racial profiling,” the lawyers said. “We disagree. This description can be used against almost any Hispanic man.”