"The Profiler"

From today's Projo blog:

ACLU sues state police for alleged racial profiling
PROVIDENCE --
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court today challenging what it calls the illegal detention of a van of Guatemalans on Interstate 95 in July.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 11 of the 14 immigrants, argues that "the actions by the state police violated the state's Racial Profiling Prevention Act, as well as the driver and passengers' constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and from unreasonable searches and seizures," according to an announcement released this morning by the ACLU.
The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that the defendants violated the constitutional rights of the driver and passengers, and an award of unspecified damages and attorneys' fees.
Today's lawsuit stems from a July 11 traffic stop on Route 95 southbound in Richmond. State trooper Thomas Chabot said he stopped the van, because the driver failed to signal a lane change. When the driver and 13 occupants could not produce immigration documents, Chabot called federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities.
The 14, who now face deportation, allege that Chabot threatened to shoot or kill them if they tried to escape the van on its way to ICE headquarters in Providence.
Chabot was cleared of wrongdoing in September after an internal state police investigation, which found that the trooper "acted professionally and appropriately in this traffic stop," including his seeking involvement by federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.
The head of Rhode Island's ACLU said there's no doubt that the incident was a result of racial profiling. “Since the license and registration papers of the van’s driver were valid and there was never any suggestion of criminal activity, the questioning and detention of the passengers was clearly based on one element: their ethnic appearance," ACLU executive director Steven Brown said. "This is the essence of racial profiling."


Sassette:
But they were here illegally, right? Are people who are not in this country legally really afforded the same protections under the law as those who are? What is irksome about this article is that the short version that is on the "breaking news" section of projo does not mention that the people are now facing deportation - you have to click the link to continue the article in another window to find that out. Also, if all 14 are facing deportation, that must mean that the license and registration paperwork that were "in order" must have been fakes, right? If the driver and the 13 passengers could not produce immigration documents, then the driver must have actually been in possession of fake license and registration paperwork.
So, what is the deal? What did the police do wrong?

Xen:
This is a ludicrous lawsuit as far as I can tell.
How is it racial profiling?

Was there a traffic violation?
How can an illegal immigrant have a valid license? Is an out-of-the-US license valid here? If not, then you are right - it must have been a fake.
If I am in the country illegally, it doesn't matter WHAT I am detained for initially - I am here illegally.
If a bank robber is stopped for speeding and he's got that big canvass bag next to him with the "$" on it and a black robbers mask across his eyes, is it profiling? Bull.

The ACLU is all over this police profiling thing and it's out of control as far as I can see.

Sassette:
The worst part is that no one in the article is disputing, apparently, that the traffic offense occurred. I am very interested to see if the law in RI allows the use of traffic violations as a pretext for police to stop a vehicle. I believe they do, and if so it doesn't matter - the stop was legal. In theory you could offer up the argument that any member of a minority is always profiled any time they are stopped. It is ludicrous.

I honestly am curious if people who have entered this country illegally are entitled to the same protections as legal citizens. Do you know?

This whole thing seems to be half *ssed reported. No mention has been made as to why they are in RI; are they living in the state, or perhaps in CT? Do they have relatives also here illegally?