Feds Investigate Outing of Alleged Illegal Aliens

Posted July 16, 2010 in Criminal Law by Arthur Buono
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A group calling themselves Concerned Citizens of the United States has sent a list of Utah residents it calls illegal aliens to federal officials and news outlets. Now the officials are investigating how the list was compiled. This comes as the battle over neighboring Arizona’s immigration law heats up, and Utah considers similar legislation.

 
  • Group espouses nonviolence, promises to watch for other illegals and fed action
  • List contains private medical data
  • Resident illegal aliens have few good options for changing status

 

List of 1300 Alleged Illegals; Privacy Violated

Immigration officials received a version of the list in April. A letter sent with an updated list to media outlets recently criticizes federal officials for failing to act on the list and demands deportation of the persons on it. The list contains medical information about some of the persons. This has intimidated some and raised fears of invasion of privacy.

Federal and state governments make disclosure of certain personal information a crime. Utah has a law against improper use of state records. The federal laws carry stricter penalties for release of medical information. Utah and federal officials say they are investigating the disclosures.

At least two of the persons named on the list have admitted their illegal status. One of them said he feels the time may have come to leave. Oddly, the immigration laws give resident illegals no incentive to leave voluntarily to get visas. To do so in most cases would trigger automatic 3- or 10-year bans on reentry.

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