Store owner threatens to call ICE on Hispanic customers

http://www.truthinimmigration.org

Truth In Immigration
In March 2008, José Genao and a friend went to a Rhode Island heating equipment supply store to buy a spare part for his boiler. While the owner, David Richardson, searched his inventory for the part, Genao and his friend began speaking to each other in Spanish. As Mr. Richardson was ringing up Mr. Genao's purchase, he demanded to see the customers' Social Security cards.

The Providence Journal reports:

When Genao told Richardson "he did not have the right to ask all those questions," Richardson pulled out a membership card for Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement, a group that seeks curbs on illegal immigration.

Then, he lifted the phone receiver and threatened to call immigration authorities, Genao said. "He [Richardson] grabbed the phone and said, 'I can call ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] anytime I see an illegal immigrant,'" said Genao. "He also said, 'I can make a citizen's arrest.' "

Genao, a Rhode Island state employee, is a native of the Dominican Republic and a U.S. citizen. He speaks fluent English. He said his friend — who declined comment — is also a Dominican native and U.S. citizen. "There is no problem with his status," said Genao. "He is legal." State records list both as registered voters.

"I wanted to see the Social Security number from the one who wasn't speaking English," said Richardson. "I just kind of mentioned I'd like to see his Social Security card. And he kinda balked. He left and walked out the door." When the friend returned to urge Genao to leave, Richardson added, "he started to speak in English. That surprised me."

***
Richardson said he has asked for customers' Social Security numbers if they do not speak English well, and estimated that he has done so "fifteen or twenty times." At first, Richardson said he has refused to do business with some people who declined to show him a Social Security card. He subsequently denied that, and said he had asked people for their cards "maybe 10 times in the last five years."
Though Richardson said it is his legal right to demand a Social Security card — it may not be.
Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, said Richardson appears to have violated a state law (R.I. General Law 6-13-17) related to "unfair sales practices" . . .
Brown said the law, "designed to protect consumers' rights, generally prohibits businesses from requiring customers to disclose their Social Security number. The law contains both criminal and civil penalties." In Brown's opinion, "by demanding that this customer present his Social Security card, the owner clearly ran afoul of that law."
Brown said Richardson's actions "also appear to clearly violate state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race or national origin in places of public accommodation. There can be little question that this customer was singled out for discriminatory and humiliating treatment based on his national origin. Store owners have a legal obligation to serve all customers, and threatening to arrest a customer for speaking Spanish and for refusing to show a Social Security card is precisely the type of discriminatory conduct that the state's 'public accommodations' law was meant to bar."

http://www.truthinimmigration.org

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