Freedom

The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution declares:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Together, these Amendments provide protection to every single person born in this Country. Every single one. The idea that we could refuse services to children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants is flatly unconstitutional on its face. The idea that we would send out of the country children born here because their parents are illegal is also ridiculous under the Constitution.

In the name of capturing those who are violating the law, you cannot violate the rights guaranteed to all citizens in the 4th and 14th Amendments. Thus, a police officer cannot even briefly detain a dark-skinned individual who he overheard speaking Spanish because he thinks that gives him reasonable suspicion that the person may not be here in this country legally. These are not close calls given the language contained in these Amendments.

In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865, 104 L.Ed.2d 443 (1989), the Supreme Court held that all claims of excessive-force by police officers in the course of an arrest, investigatory stop, or other seizure should be analyzed under the rubric of the Fourth Amendment. Id., 490 U.S. at 395. The definition of “seizure” of a person within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment requires some meaningful interference, however brief, with an individual’s freedom of movement. See Michigan v. Summers, 452 U.S. 692, 696, 101 S.Ct. 2587, 2590, 69 L.Ed.2d 340 (1981); Brower v. County of Inyo, 489 U.S. 593, 596-97, 109 S.Ct. 1378, 103 L.Ed.2d 628 (1989) (emphasis in original); see also Ciminillo v. Streicher, 434 F.3d 461, 465 (6th Cir. 2006).

This is the law in this great country. If you truly are concerned with the power of government, you would not upset this great protection given to our citizens for any reason.