True Story: I got the weirdest phone call yesterday (02/21/17). My
client --- “Joe” is what I’ll call him --- called me and told me in Spanish
that he was standing outside the front door of his home, talking to a
policeman. The policeman wanted to come inside the home, to interrogate / arrest
Joe’s wife. Joe handed his cell phone to the policeman who ---- shocker ---
talked to me.
“Who is this?” asked the policeman. I later found out he was an agent
of Homeland Security Investigations.
“I am immigration attorney Will Humble.”
“Well, Will, [Joe]’s work permit expires on February 25, 2017, so I
guess he has status for three more days, but he already told us that his wife
doesn’t have any status.”
“I already told [Joe],” I said, “that it’s a universal principle of
criminal law that the police cannot open the door and come into a home without
a warrant signed by criminal court judge.”
“We are investigating the restaurant where [Joe] works. This visit to [Joe]’s
home is an extension of THAT warrant,” he said. “The [Assistant United States
Attorney] is on board with this, and she told us that we’re authorized to make
an immigration inspection.”
“I hear you,” I said, respectfully, “but AUSAs say stuff all the time
that gets misunderstood, so proceed at your own risk. If you open that door
without a warrant you will be violating their civil rights.”
“I’m just letting you know where this is going.”
“Thank you for the, uh, warning.”
He hung up.
Wow.
Joe later called me and said that policeman and his fellow officers
left and never came back.
“What should I do,” [Joe] asked me, in Spanish, “if or when he comes back?”
I advised [Joe] in Spanish to keep the door shut but unlocked and to
shout out the following:
“The door is UNlocked so if you have a warrant signed by a judge to
open it, what can I do?”
Since you’re reading this true story, I want to know, what do YOU
think?
