Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris accused the Memphis Safe Task Force of unlawful stops and racial profiling on Tuesday.

Harris held a press briefing to discuss the Memphis Safe Task Force arrests since the start of its third week of enforcement and the growing concerns the Memphis Hispanic community has regarding the task force.

He said members of the Hispanic community are being targeted, regardless of their legal status.

Immigrant Justice Program Director, Colton Bane, of Community Legal Center’s Immigrant Justice Program said he’s representing several clients who were racially profiled and arrested, despite their legal status.

Bane says there have been reports of law enforcement not returning licenses to Hispanic drivers after traffic stops.

“Not only are they racially profiling and pulling over Hispanic drivers with no cause, they’re then also creating future legal problems for these individuals,” said Bane.

  • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    6 hours ago

    When asked about immigrant families living in fear, afraid to go to work or school due to the presence of ICE agents, the governor says he wants every Memphian to know the goal is to remove crime from the streets.

    "If they’re not a criminal element, then they shouldn’t be afraid. That’s the goal of what we’re doing here,” Gov. Lee said.

    Of course, nothing to hide, nothing to fear. What could possibly happen if you haven’t broken the law?

    Bane said his client gave the trooper and a Homeland Security agent his ID, work permit, and social security card, but they refused to return his state-issued ID to him.

    However, when Bane arrived at the scene to help his client, the trooper and the agent ended up returning the client’s ID to him.

    Ok, so as long as you’re not breaking the law, and you have your personal lawyer on speed dial to come down to the scene and retrieve your ID for you every time you’re profiled and pulled over by federal agents who are constantly following you around and harassing you. Then you have nothing to worry about.

    i wonder why the task force would refuse to give IDs and documentation back to immigrants when they know how likely it is they will be pulled over again in the very near future?

    Almost like they’re lawless corrupt pieces of shit terrorizing America on behalf of the federal government. But that wouldn’t make sense. They’re only there to keep the city “safe.”

    • klammeraffe@lemmy.cafe
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      6 hours ago

      So that when you get pulled over again and you cannot identify Yourself, they get to put you in a Prison with no name.