Mesa Immigration Policy Released

Mayor Smith and Chief Gascon have clarified their immigration policy. The Tribune also has excellent coverage of the event, complete with video for you to watch. According to the stories, these rules have been clarified by Mesa police:

-Police "shall" check immigration status of everyone people arrested for crimes.

-People cited and released for minor offenses may be asked about their immigration status. If an officer "develops" probable cause to suspect the person is here illegally, ICE will be informed.

-Immigration status will not be sought for crime victims and witnesses, juveniles, people stopped for civil traffic violations, people seeking medical assistance or people participating in police volunteer activities.

Sounds fairly straight forwatd. I am sure its not going to be enough for the die-hards, but its a step in the right direction. Now, no one can say that they didn't know how the law was to be enforced. This combined with the ICE assistance secured by the Mayor should allow Mesa PD to do their job efficiently and take care of immigration issues while doing their job in thwarting all crime. Immigration status is only part of the solution to lowering Mesa's crime. We must remember that people who are legally also commit crimes (we see them all the time on "Cops" in Mesa).