ILAP Public Comment: Proposed Rules for Law Enforcement Collection of Traffic Stop Data to Eliminate Profiling
September 25, 2023
Vivian A. Mikhail
Deputy Attorney General, Special Projects
Office of the Maine Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
RE: Office of the Attorney General’s Proposed Rules for Law Enforcement Collection of Traffic Stop Data to Eliminate Profiling (per 5 M.R.S.A. §4753, as amended in the first session of the 131st legislature)
Dear Deputy Attorney General Mikhail,
The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, (ILAP), respectfully submits the following comments regarding the Office of the Attorney General’s Proposed Rules for Law Enforcement Collection of Traffic Stop Data to Eliminate Profiling.
I. About ILAP and Interest in Proposed Changes:
ILAP is Maine’s only statewide immigration legal services organization, serving low-income people across the state who would otherwise not have access to immigration legal services. ILAP’s clients are predominantly people of color and include asylum seekers, immigrant children, farmworkers, survivors of trafficking, and other vulnerable populations. Through our practice over the last 30 years and our longstanding community partnerships, ILAP has deep understanding and expertise in the intersection between immigration status, racism, and racial profiling in Maine; the unique and dire consequences that immigrant communities can face when targeted; and the importance of the Attorney General’s office specifically tracking data related to this population in the pursuit of eliminating racial profiling by law enforcement in Maine.
II. Comments:
In Section II, 9. Result of Stop, ILAP recommends that clear and specific language be added to ensure data is collected regarding whether law enforcement contacted immigration agents or authorities as an outcome of the stop. An example of language would be “Notification of Federal Immigration Authorities, such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP).” This data collection is essential in helping the Attorney General’s office analyze and assess the frequency, rates, and prevalence of immigrant communities in Maine being racially profiled in traffic stops and to understand the extent in which racial profiling is being used as a tool for immigration law enforcement. This data would be crucial in assisting the Office in taking targeted and concrete action related to addressing law enforcement’s racial profiling of immigrant communities in Maine, and properly coordinating with other government agencies on larger policy solutions and steps.
Importantly, racial profiling of immigrant communities in Maine can lead to unique and dire consequences on individual and systemic levels. For individuals, racial profiling by law enforcement can tip off a chain reaction resulting in deportation to life-threatening conditions, family separation, loss of a breadwinner, and other destabilizing effects on families and generations.
On a systemic level, studies show that trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement has benefits for entire communities, including lower crime rates and economic benefits.¹ Conversely, lack of trust in law enforcement leads to immigrants not reporting crimes and undermines law enforcement’s ability to address and prosecute offenders and keep all Maine people safe.
III. Conclusion:
Thank you for your consideration of our comments. Please contact ILAP’s Policy Director, Lisa Parisio, at lparisio@ilapmaine.org for any questions or additional information.
Sincerely,
Susan Roche
Executive Director
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project
¹ Danyelle Solomon, Tom Jawetz, Sanam Malik, The Negative Consequences of Entangling Local Policing and Immigration Enforcement, Center for American Progress (March 21, 2017), https://www.americanprogress.org/article/negative-consequences-entangling-local-policing-immigration-enforcement/.