State police adopt policy on dealing with foreign nationals

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania state police are adopting a new policy to govern troopers’ interactions with foreign nationals.

The procedures, in the works for nearly two years, were adopted after criticism that officers were acting as an informal arm of immigration enforcement.

ProPublica and The Philadelphia Inquirer reporting last year raised questions about racial profiling and unlawful arrests.

The new procedures imposed last week say officers can’t “summarily” question passengers in a vehicle stopped for suspicion of violating traffic rules about immigration status.

They also may not be detained just for the purpose of questioning them about immigration status.

Troopers can’t attempt to detail or arrest foreign nationals based only on their immigration status.

State police may contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an interaction with a foreign national is complete.

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