He also posed questions he wanted answered concerning how the city should deal with immigrants at the local level:
Should Costa Mesa police accept a photo ID issued to emigrants from the Mexican consulate as a valid form of identification?
Should officers have more training on how to handle foreign nationals and how to question them on their citizenship status?
Will Costa Mesa require companies contracting with the city or businesses applying for a license here be required to verify their employees’ citizenship status?
Mansoor said he wants city staff to have answers to these questions at study sessions in coming weeks.
In California, a person stopped by police driving with a suspended license will most likely be detained and have their car impounded, police said. A person driving without a license can be detained, but, more often than not, will receive a ticket.
Mansoor asserts that most unlicensed drivers are illegal immigrants and therefore the state needs to close the disparity in how police treat unlicensed drivers versus those with suspended licenses.
Many U.S. banks accept the “Matricula Consular,” a form of ID issued by the Mexican consulate to Mexican citizens emigrating from Mexico both legally and illegally. Mansoor said he disagrees with the practice and wants to see what the city can do about it.
If a person cannot provide valid ID when they’re stopped by police, they’re usually detained and their identity is determined at police headquarters and their immigration status can be checked too, he said.
But there are times when the federal immigration agent is not on duty at the city jail.
“The point I was trying to make is that there are some loopholes,” Mansoor said.
