“Go Back to Your Country!” This is what several Los Angeles gang members could be hearing soon if some local politicians have their way. Dennis Zine, a Los Angles City Councilman, proposed a policy last week that would require police officers from the LAPD to report gang members who are in the United States (US) “undocumented” (and/or illegally) to Immigration officials!

As part of the policy, police officers would be required to report “undocumented” gang members who are not even under arrest to Immigration. Even more alarming is that under this policy, if a police officer is not sure whether a gang member is in the US “undocumented” or not, they would be required to investigate the gang member’s immigration status, if the officer has a hunch that the gang member might be “undocumented.”

Zine claims that his proposal would not infringe upon LAPD Special Order 40, which prohibits police officers from initiating “police action with the objective of discovering the alien status of a person.” However, critics of the proposal assert that it would violate Special Order 40 and would have police officers pulling double duty as both peace officers and immigration officials.

This potential policy change is certainly something to be aware of as it could affect many of our friends and family members! Call Wallin and Klarich today if you feel that a loved one could potentially be impacted by this.

Wallin and Klarich has been in the business of helping people with their Los Angeles criminal defense matters in their time of need for over 30 years and we would like to help you with yours! We are always available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.