DHS's "Secure Communities" program will deport battered woman for calling 9-1-1 on her abuser

Isaura Garcia, a battered woman and legal ~~illegal~~ immigrant, called 911 after her boyfriend beat her up. The cops believed her boyfriend's version of the story (despite bruises and other signs recorded at the hospital after she fainted). Because she was arrested, ~~her visa was suspended,~~ and now she faces deportation under the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement's "Secure Communities" program:

"The dangerous message that Isaura's case sends to immigrants who are victims or witnesses to crimes is that if you call the police, you might be deported," Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said during this morning's press conference.
Garcia was snared thanks to Secure Communities, the Department of Homeland Security program that requires local police departments to share the fingerprints of arrestees with immigration authorities. While the intention of the program is to identify and deport criminal aliens, in practice it has not always worked out that way for Garcia and other non-criminals, according to Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU-SC. "Secure Communities ends up providing security to criminals, including perpetrators of domestic violence," he said today. "This couldn't possibly make our communities more secure."
Garcia echoed those sentiments to those gathered before her. "I still don't understand why I was arrested," she said, "but had I realized I could be arrested after calling 9-1-1 for help and deported, I never would have called..."
Illinois has announced its desire to opt out of the federal program, while San Francisco Police Chief Michael Hennessy recently revealed his department will not turn over non-criminals and low-level offenders to immigration authorities identified through Secure Communities.

[UPDATED with Sad Case Against Deportee:] Isaura Garcia, Battered Woman Facing Deportation, Embodies Problems with ICE Program (Thanks Vickie!)

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Anonymous

Something I agree with Rudy Giuliani on, back in 1996:

“There are times when undocumented immigrants must have a substantial degree of protection.

For example, parents fearful of having their family deported may very well not send their children to public schools.

That could mean that a potential 70,000 to 80,000 undocumented children might remain hidden in apartments or be turned out on the streets.

And some of these children are citizens — born in the U.S. — even though their parents were not.

If their parents take them out of school, not only will these children suffer irreversible damage, they will most likely end up doing damage to the rest of society.

Similarly, illegal and undocumented immigrants should be able to seek medical help without the threat of being reported.

When these people are sick, they’re just as sick and just as contagious as citizens… and could possibly become a danger to public health.

And everyone should understand the practicality of wanting undocumented immigrants to feel comfortable reporting criminals to the police.

Reporting criminals protects all people, citizens and non-citizens alike.

It makes absolutely no sense to create a dis-incentive for immigrants to report crimes.

Muggers don’t ask for a green card. The Federal Government should not mandate State and City policies that have the effect of reducing the number of undocumented immigrants reporting crimes.”

-Conference on the New Immigrants
Cowles Auditorium, Minneapolis
Monday, September 30, 1996
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/rwg/html/96/immig.html
Sam125

Yeah, lets draw more attention to how crappy LA is.
Anonymous

In response to Cnoocy:

“Policies like this, where someone reporting a crime is arrested for a lesser crime, make us all less safe by making the worse crimes more difficult to stop.”

This is true, but it also is very difficult to avoid. I’m sure that people who use recreational drugs probably also call the police less, and people who evade taxes also call the police less. I suspect people who hire prostitutes don’t call the police as much as people who don’t either. I bet you that serial killers also don’t tend to call the police on other people.

(Please notice how I used both “victimless” (recreational drugs, prostitution) and heinous (murder) crimes in my examples. I’m not trying to equate entering the country illegally with either.

I also suspect that, like people who enter the country illegally, drug users and johns are also selectively exploited by criminals because they have less opportunity for legal recourse. I don’t know if this story is an illustration of how we need immigration reform (which I do think we need), or how we need to rethink a lot of laws (immigration, drugs, sex) which exist to punish the “criminal” but don’t do much to protect anyone else.
Anonymous

Immigrants — EVEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS — pay taxes too. In fact, illegal immigrants pay more taxes than some of our largest corporations. In fact, many illegals pay _more_ taxes than legal citizens, because they’re afraid to file for a return!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24054024/ns/business-personal_finance/t/tax-time-illegal-immigrants-are-paying-too/
Sam125

I should comment that this is a horrible story but sadly enough, stories about horrible city/county policy decisions like these is not uncommon here.
chawke

I am gratified that ‘Secure Communities’ is keeping us safe from ‘Little Osamas’ such as this woman.
OldBrownSquirrel

From TFA:
- Feb 6: she’s arrested
- Mar. 26: boyfriend arrested on manslaughter charges

I suspect there’s a big untold story here. When exactly did this manslaughter take place? What were the circumstances? Is this a clear example of a case where the police could have taken a dangerously violent person off the street but instead chose to arrest his girlfriend? I’m picturing a variation on the death-of-Uncle-Ben-Parker scenario.
loroferoz

Let’s get level. This is not just a U.S. problem, though the old U.S.A. adds new levels of zaniness. It is a worldwide phenomenon.

Immigration policy and generally treatment of immigrants DO NOT work like the State is supposed to work for citizens. According to a Constitution that codifies rights and standards for acceptable legal treatment. Things like habeas corpus or the right NOT to be unreasonably searched. Things like being declared guilty before they do exact retribution from you. That’s for citizens.

Immigrants, have to face a frightening bureaucracy that can reach such decisions without hearing ANYONE and can pick anything about them. Wished it were courts!. There’s impossible waiting terms, and there’s simply more bureaucracy to get redress for any of the decisions the agencies reach.

It is unfair. It is quite legal. It is quite mad. Most anything the agencies can device goes (no protection from the law, again).

And it should be experienced at least once in a lifetime by every European/American. It is a real eye opener: About what would happen to Europeans and Americans should citizens let themselves be treated like immigrants, and about dignified (not out of compassion) treatment of individuals.
- VastlyAmused
  
  You’re mistaken in the things you say are for citizens. According to many, many court rulings, the rights exist for ALL persons within the country no matter what their status. That is why the Bill of Rights and many of the amendments say “persons” and NOT “citizens”.
  - loroferoz
    
    In an ideal world, every piece of regulation regarding immigration would conform to Constitutional Principles.
    
    My point is that they barely do, if at all, or do not.
    
    Your status and your whole life are not decided by Courts if you are not a citizen or a permanent resident. But by ministries and departments of government. Wished it was the counties! Wished it was regions/states!
    
    Sometimes you are treated as a two-legged intelligent ox seen in terms of what you can produce vs. what you might consume (not that you are hungry for State services, quite the contrary; also immigrants cannot get or simply don’t want cushy govt. jobs), so is your immediate family at times.
    
    Waiting can be years and years, never mind, it’s not a citizen, just a poor sod from foreign land who is used to waiting.
Anonymous

Isaura was undocumented when she called the police. She was placed in deportation proceedings, but is eligible to receive a non-immigrant visa for her help in the investigation and prosecution of her criminal ex-boyfriend. After 2-3 years, if she maintains good status, she will be eligible for a green card.

I’ve heard the arguments that poor immigrants should “go home” before… it was said about the irish, italians, polish, etc. about 100 years ago.
aj

It’s very possible that she was both victim and perpetrator, which would explain why she was arrested – particularly if LAPD had an “arrest first” policy. This doesn’t explain why she would have been held for immigration violations if she was a legal immigrant, though.

This is an unintended consequence of well-intentioned anti-domestic violence laws whose purpose is to separate the parties to a dispute immediately, in order to prevent further violence. It does make sense to change the law to exempt this kind of case from ICE review.
Anonymous

even if she was completely illegal; that would be exactly the type of case that makes immigration reform and acceptance the ONLY moral course of action.

The debate so rarely even mentions illegals who are horribly abused, either by their significant other OR by their employer. Know those restaurants with illegals scrubbing the dishes? What happens when a scumbag says “Sleep with me or you lose your job” and the woman feels like if she files sexual harassment claims she will be deported and her children will probably be put into the system because she lost all her income?

Basically if you are not for immigration reform you are directly causing women to be raped, beaten, and even men to be completely taken advantage of from a workers rights point of view. It’s ridiculous. Only horrible people could accept that “because they are illegal.” I’d rather keep an illegal immigrant around than you!
- Bonano
  
  Anon said, “Basically if you are not for immigration reform you are directly causing women to be raped, beaten, and even men to be completely taken advantage of…”
  
  I disagree fully. We have HAD immigration reform. Twice in the last twenty years we have had an amnesty for illegal immigrants and still we have this problem. A third will not change that. We need a change that includes not playing two ends against the middle like we do now where the employers are not held accountable and the system is very porous when it comes to verifying someone’s status. Enforcement of our existing laws is the key.
  
  This woman has shown that she has taken advantage of the system repeatedly, over and over and over again. And now she is doing it for a fourth time while the authorities just watch and fold.
  
  The alternative is to have people respect our borders and enforce that fully in compliance with the law. We give Billions with a B away every year to countries that can’t run their business. Creating incentives for them to come and stay will only increase this burden on us, on them and on our future.
  
  Its very simple, every one of you has a door on your home and a lock on that door for one reason and one reason only; to keep someone else out. Why is it any different for the borders of our country?
  - Snig
    
    You do know that in a lot of the country they’re the ones who build the houses and put the doors up and installed the locks on the door. The house or apartment you live in would cost more if it was done by legals. And if you kick them out, you’d be paying more for groceries, as there’s be less cheap labor to pick the fruits and veggies, or work in the meat packing industry like there is now. If you could, would you trade your way of life for the cushy existance of a migrant worker or another working illegal alien? You could take advantage of things that way.
    - bhtooefr
      
      Hrm. On a purely economic perspective, hiring only locals keeps money in the nation’s economy, rather than some of it being pushed out by both legal and illegal immigrants.
      
      In any case, if the economy can’t support wages that allow for an American standard of living for its workers, then the American standard of living is the problem.
      
      And, actually, I think the way the economy is now, we’re going to suffer an economic inversion – China will be getting their middle class to buy cheap plastic crap made by American child workers for pennies a day.
mxjohnson

There are perhaps 50,000 illegal immigrants in my county. There are criminals — certainly dozens, maybe hundreds — who prey on them, because they know their victims are unlikely to call the police. So there’s now a criminal class that commits robbery, assault, theft, burglary, and Lord knows what else, with near impunity.

Somebody, please, explain to me how that is a good thing.

Not deporting a victim for reporting a crime isn’t the same as making her immune to deportation, by the way. I should think that would be obvious, but I could explain it in one- and two-syllable words if necessary.
jackie31337

I’m not sure if anyone has linked this, but this flow chart does a very good job of explaining why so many immigrants come to the US illegally: it’s a surprisingly difficult and lengthy process to immigrate legally.

Despite having to learn Finnish well enough to pass a proficiency exam, I had it easier than the best case scenario when I applied for citizenship in Finland.
DirkSJ

Getting beat up doesn’t suddenly make it OK/legal to be an illegal immigrant. Sucks to be her, sure, but I fail to see what’s wrong with this. She doesn’t pay taxes. She’s not even entitled to police protection in the first place, in my opinion.

In the normal course of investigating a crime the police try to figure out who you are and who the other party is. If the police discover a second crime (being in the country illegally, possession of drugs, whatever) when called over for the first crime they shouldn’t just ignore it.

The alternative here is that either police don’t try to figure out who the two parties are (laughable) or they get some kind of protection from INS for calling the cops (a disaster waiting to happen).
- The Chemist
  
  Because she was arrested, her visa was suspended
  
  That’s first of all. Second of all, I like how you’re okay with criminals going free and being sheltered by the law as long as the victims aren’t American. Real classy.
- Montana
  
  Yeah, RTFA, she was a Legal immigrant.
- Saint Fnordius
  
  Congratulations for entirely missing the point. The woman in question was a LEGAL immigrant, you dolt! Illegal immigrants don’t have visas to suspend!
  
  Yet another way the terrorists succeeded beyond their dreams in making the United States a paranoid, irrational arena of security theatre.
- cinemajay
  
  “She doesn’t pay taxes. She’s not even entitled to police protection in the first place, in my opinion.”
  
  Excellent point. In fact we should omit children, the elderly, and other deductible tax dependents from police protection as well!
- Kylini
  
  Last I checked, legal immigrants (visa holders) pay taxes too. Finally, everyone is entitled to police protection.
- Cnoocy
  
  Police protection, like fire protection, is more effective for everyone if it is applied to everyone. Just like a fire can jump from house to house, a criminal can move from victim to victim.
- Snig
  
  That’s an odd dialect of Navaho you’re speaking, I’m not sure I understand your meaning.
  
  RTFA
  She was a LEGAL IMMIGRANT. She was following the rules.
  
  This policy a bad thing because someone getting beat or dead is much worse than someone being in the country illegally. The person who’s afraid to call becoming dead is a likely disaster waiting to happen.
  
  Minors also don’t pay taxes, but it’d be nice if they had police protections.
  
  And illegal immigrants do pay taxes, though not as much as legal immigrant, and get far less social services and protections.
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/04/AR2006060400965.html
- Anonymous
  
  I take it “woman who defaulted on taxes found savagely beaten, taken to prison” would be a feel-good story for you?
- mn_camera
  
  You’re a Libertarian, aren’t you?
  - Marja
    
    No, libertarians support immigration rights, because they are basic human rights. (And for those who argue from self-ownership, self-ownership must include the right to emigrate and immigrate.) I think the word you’re looking for is “authoritarian.”
- g0d5m15t4k3
  
  It’s like that time my roommate, who was absolutely and terribly way too drunk to drive, hopped a curb and was in the middle of some Mexican’s yard. He jumped out all freaked out, they came out of their house “No Policia! No Policia!” and my roommate just edged back into his car “Si, no policia…” and got back in and drove home. He should have been arrested because no one in their right mind should have let him get away but he did because the immigrants were too terrified of DHS to report it.
davidrjroy

@DirkSJ – the very first line is “Isaura Garcia, a battered woman and legal immigrant”. And the point isn’t that the police tried to find out who she was – it’s that they arrested her, then decided that she wasn’t at fault, but that the simple fact of being arrested (even though innocent) flagged her for deportation. Care to reconsider?
grimc

People are actually trying to reason with somebody who holds the despicable belief that undocumented immigrants don’t deserve police protection? Must be a slow day on the internets.
- Snig
  
  You’re likely right. I should have given up trollbait for lent. It’s just so hard to resist.
- CLamb
  
  Who are you referring to? It can’t be DirkSJ because he said, “Her boyfriend, if a citizen, should still be tried for anything the police think he has done. Convicted if a judge/jury agree.”. Both people are acting in violation of the law. The problem is that reporting the crime of violence will uncover the lesser crime of violating a deportation order. Should reporters of more serious crimes be granted amnesty for any lesser crimes revealed? This isn’t unique to the problem of illegal aliens. A similar situation is a person who is beaten by the dealer when buying Marijuana.
  - grimc
    
    You mean the guy who wrote
    
    She’s not even entitled to police protection in the first place, in my opinion.
    
    Are there two DirkSJs in this thread?
    
    And it’s silly to compare being in the country without papers to violent crime. Unless you’re prepared to dumb the definition of ‘criminal’ down to include people who get speeding tickets or play their stereo too loud at night.
    - CLamb
      
      I guess I wasn’t clear in my example. I was comparing the victim of the violent crime, the Marijuana purchaser, to the woman. If the reference is correct her crime is not being in the country illegally; it is violating a deportation order. If she is in the country illegally and is a victim of a violent crime she can get a U Visa. There are just too many unknowns in this particular case to make a judgement here. Is she in the country legally or not? Who is the perpetrator and who is the victim of the violence? A lot more investigation needs to be done before a judgement can be made.
  - Cnoocy
    
    He’s backed off since, but DirkSJ did in fact say “She’s not even entitled to police protection in the first place, in my opinion.” back in comment #1.
abulafia

‘Isaura Garcia, a battered woman and legal immigrant’. Which part of this sentence screams illegal immigrant to you? If you’re not going to actually read before you post, expect ridicule. Legal immigrant gets beaten. She’s then arrested, which suspends her visa, hence the possibility of her being deported.
- Neon Tooth
  
  ‘Isaura Garcia, a battered woman and legal immigrant’. Which part of this sentence screams illegal immigrant to you?
  
  I’m guessing the “Garcia” part….lol.
DirkSJ

I tend to read the quoted text rather than the commentary because I don’t like my opinion to be perverted by a blogger’s personal bias.

The quoted text doesn’t mention the visa. Click through…the main article also doesn’t mention she had a visa. I’m not sure where Cory got that from.
- davidrjroy
  
  So you think that the immigration authorities have complete fingerprint records of all illegal immigrants?
Neon Tooth

These kinds of stories always bring out The Minutemen type lunatics who scour the web for stuff like this so they can spew in the comments.

Our governor (Quinn / Illinois) thankfully wants nothing to do with this stupid and ineffective program.
Anonymous

Correction: Michael Hennessey is San Francisco’s elected Sheriff, he is not the Chief of Police. http://www.sfsheriff.com/sheriff.htm
rivkin

Is she legal, or not? According to the articles about this, she’s not legal. She’s in the system for having been deported 3 times for being undocumented. So probably not. Don’t know where Cory got the info.

However, she is still entitled to protection. The police have to work for everyone, or the system breaks down.
tsts

People, please realize that the EXTERNAL ARTICLE referenced by this post does not make any statement about whether or not she was legally or illegally in the country. Cory says in the post that she was legal, and he may have information from some other source about this, or he may be speculating. But from the cited article we cannot tell one way or the other.

Just saying. Now I happen to think that even if she was not legally in the country, deporting domestic violence victims does not make sense. So I disagree with DirkSJ on that, and I suspect on many other things.

Update: This article (http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/05/13/federal-deportation-program-under-fire-los-angeles/) contains the following statement:
“While local authorities never charged Garcia, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her because sheâ€™d been removed from the country as an undocumented immigrant three times in the past.”
Bonano

Here is what the article that Cory posted left out: “While local authorities never charged Garcia, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained her because sheâ€™d been removed from the country as an undocumented immigrant three times in the past.”

Three times. That’s three misdemeanors, disqualifying them from becoming a citizen and once again deporting them. This time, for a fourth time.

How many times is she allowed to sneak across, get caught, slap her wrist and re-enter? Anyone? …Beuhler? …Beuhler?

Source: http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/05/13/federal-deportation-program-under-fire-los-angeles/
- Anonymous
  
  No, being in the country illegally isn’t a misdemeanor. It isn’t a crime. *Crossing* the border illegally, yes. But if you come in legally (say, on a visa and stay after it expires) you can be an illegal immigrant who hasn’t committed any crime.
  
  Why the media doesn’t correct this widespread mistaken belief is beyond me.
- evilpyrate
  
  Again missing the point.
  
  Fear of deportation (whether you are a legal or illegal immigrant) is just one more thing to keep women from reporting abuse.
  
  It’s yet another way that the system punishes women in abusive relationships while doing nothing to stop the cycle of abuse.
  - Anonymous
    
    you can not stop the cycle of domestic violence from the outside… that has to come from within… if you are in a case of domestic violence you leave! it’s really that simple… but most don’t leave or won’t leave or can’t leave… so what is there that the cops can help with? it’s a no win when the cops come in to any kind of domestic violence situation…
Ipo

Many here seem to think being in a country without a visa was a criminal offense. It is not.

Dirk? Wtf!? I thought your son killed you.
Anonymous

the first lesson here is no matter what happens the worst thing you can do is call the cops… they are not interested in doing the right thing but what is expedient and profitable to them, the court system etc.. at the very bottom of that list is the people…
Nimdae

There are two issues here.

First and foremost, the real issue, she is a victim, not a criminal, at least in this case. She should have legal protection and recourse, regardless of her immigration status, from abuse.

The second issue is there doesn’t seem to be any information about her current immigration status. I searched around in other articles. I saw no mention of a visa being suspended, nor whether or not she was currently legally in this country.

I’m all for defending her from abuse, but don’t accuse the immigration system of being broken for this particular case if it is not actually broken. The criminal should be caught and prosecuted, not protected simply because she was not here legally. He still committed a crime. If he is tried and prosecuted, then the system worked. If she is deported despite this, the system didn’t break.

The simple truth is if you call the police while you are committing a crime, whether you are victimized or not, you face the possibility of facing penalties yourself. This applies in many situations, not just with immigration.

Lets focus on the real issue rather than deflect in order to fit an agenda.
- DirkSJ
  
  There’s at least one article linked above that says she’s been deported 3 times for being illegal. Explains why they have her prints.
  
  First and foremost, the real issue, she is a victim, not a criminal, at least in this case. She should have legal protection and recourse, regardless of her immigration status, from abuse.
  
  Her boyfriend, if a citizen, should still be tried for anything the police think he has done. Convicted if a judge/jury agree. Yes. If he’s not a citizen then he should be turned over to his nation’s authorities instead.
  
  Then she should be deported if she is not a legal citizen because she too would be committing a crime by being in the country.
  
  Just because you are called for one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be found guilty of more things. You don’t get special protection from all your other crimes because you got beaten up and called the cops. If they found pot on her, she would go to jail, if they found her with an illegal weapon, jail, if they found a stolen car in her possession, jail. Immigration status is no different.
  
  How many people get drug charges after being pulled over for speeding and the cop smells pot/sees a crack pipe and then finds a stash? No different.
  - Cnoocy
    
    Except that speeding is something that, as a society, we want to discourage, while calling the police when you are a victim of or witness to a crime is something that we need to encourage desperately.
    - DirkSJ
      
      Except that speeding is something that, as a society, we want to discourage, while calling the police when you are a victim of or witness to a crime is something that we need to encourage desperately.
      
      So do you propose that if you call the cops because you got beaten up then you are immune to deportation for a certain amount of time?
      
      I suspect suddenly people will be calling the cops all the time to refresh their deportation immunity period.
      
      No…just no. If you are guilty of something you should get punished. Period. There are no free passes just because something bad happened to you.
      
      Yeah it sucks to be them but there is a very simple alternative that would solve their problem completely: Don’t be an illegal immigrant. Live in your own nation or gain citizenship to this one.
      - Cnoocy
        
        So do you propose that if you call the cops because you got beaten up then you are immune to deportation for a certain amount of time?
        
        Not at all. I propose that if you call the cops because you got beaten up they don’t then turn around and provide your information to DHS. If DHS can’t do its job without making everyone less safe, then it’s not doing its job. I also think that underage drinkers should be able to call the cops about robberries in progress, and that pothead pedestrians shouldn’t fear reporting drunk drivers.
      - tsts
        
        “So do you propose that if you call the cops because you got beaten up then you are immune to deportation for a certain amount of time?”
        
        Eh, no. Nobody has suggested that as far as I can tell. But if you got beaten up, there is no reason to perform a check on your status just because you reported it. It is not about a certain amount of time here –if by coincidence, she were picked up an hour later on something completely unrelated, then she would not be immune. It’s the causal relationship between her reporting and here being scheduled for deportation that is the problem.
      - Anonymous
        
        You know what? Yes. Helping to take a violent criminal, an abuser of women, off the streets is a good thing to do. I’d give her citizenship for it.
- Cnoocy
  
  Policies like this, where someone reporting a crime is arrested for a lesser crime, make us all less safe by making the worse crimes more difficult to stop. I’d rather have an undocumented immigrant out on the street than a violent abuser. And under this policy, we get both!
emmdeeaych

The DHS exists to frighten non anglo’s.

Is it winning when the fight against terror yields us a police state?

Time to stop being so afraid, Whitey.
urbanspaceman

The cops believed her boyfriend’s version of the story (despite bruises and other signs recorded at the hospital after she fainted).

And this kind of thing happens far too often in cases like this, no matter what the race or nationality of the victim and the perp.
Rich Keller

From this article http://www.scpr.org/news/2011/05/13/federal-deportation-program-under-fire-los-angeles/

“Hours after the ACLU publicly raised concerns about Isaura Garcia, immigration officials said they would no longer seek her deportation.”

She is personally off the hook. She’s out of an abusive relationship and her situation brought to light a bureaucratic nightmare. Maybe some good came out of this.
Anonymous

I wonder if she was an immigrant from somewhere like say Canada (legal or illegal) as opposed to Mexico (there are a LOT of illegal Canadians living & working in the US) would this sort of thing happen? #punishedforbeingbrown
Anonymous

It sucks to have to prioritize crime, but I put abuse above illegally being in the country. Here’s another reason she should have some sort of protection:

I bet she knew something about that manslaughter charge he was picked up on, and didn’t call anyone about that for fear of deportation.
Anonymous

Nowhere in the article can you find a statement that says she is an illegal immigrant. But you just went ahead and jumped to conclusions…why?

Careful, your xenophobia is showing.
Tdawwg

Her status notwithstanding, what’s the value, to your mind, in beating up an undocumented person? What’s gained? Who’s being made safe, and how is this accomplished through violence? How does this further the values of individuals, communities, the nation?

Really, I’d love to see you reason through your ideas, and quibbling over her status seems like a good way for you to avoid doing so.

Oh, and your papers, please?