OLYMPIA, WA (WCMH/AP) – The Washington State Patrol says a trooper did not violate the agency’s policy of not enforcing immigration laws while investigating a crash that led to a man being detained by federal immigration agents.
The News Tribune reports that Armando Chavez Corona’s car was hit during a Feb. 9 collision on Interstate 5 in Tacoma. Trooper Brandy Kessler did a routine check of his driver’s license found a warning from federal authorities indicating Chavez Corona was previously a deported felon.
Video obtained by KOMO-TV shows the trooper make a call to ICE, saying “…I can stall actually until he gets here. Probably 20 minutes to a half an hour.”
An ICE agent replies that “we really want him.”
State Patrol policy doesn’t prevent troopers from contacting federal immigration authorities but they do prevent troopers from detaining someone for extra time to determine immigration status. However, State Patrol spokesman Kyle Moore says the review found Kessler didn’t intentionally delay the crash investigation to give immigration agents extra time to arrive at the scene.
“She did not. The investigation didn’t prove that. She was at a very complicated collision scene,” State Patrol Chief John Batiste said. “We determined there was absolutely nothing wrong with the trooper contacting ICE for the benefit of determining whether the person posed a threat to the trooper or to the community. That was the proper thing to have done.”
The review found she violated two other policies, including turning off her car’s video system before issuing Chavez Corona a ticket for driving without insurance and making comments “mimicking the individual that she was in contact with.”
According to a dash camera recording, the trooper told the citizen: “I’m going to ask his mother’s and father’s names. ‘I don’t know, know my father’s name. No habla ingles.’ Ha, ha. “
Corona, who is married to an American citizen, was deported to Mexico on March 2. He left behind a family of five in Tacoma.The Associated Press contributed to this report.