Immigration Enforcement Can Slash Traffic Deaths

WASHINGTON - March 25, 2025 - PRLog -- Aliens in the U.S. illegally had better drive under the speed limit and scrupulously observe all traffic laws, or risk being deported, since increasingly a routine traffic stop by local law enforcement can lead to more than just a ticket or a night in jail, warns public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deputize selected state and local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration laws.

Where this is in effect, state and local cops who make routine traffic stops - e.g. for speeding, driving erratically, or even just for an obstructed license plate or failure to signal a lane change - can immediately check immigration status with DHS and ICE databases.

Drivers on the database, and perhaps family members or others in the vehicle at the time, are then being detained and turned over to Immigration and Custom Enforcement [ICE] for deportation.  Many such stops leading to detentions are being shown on national television, and even more are popping up on the Internet, notes Banzhaf.

As the practice spreads and becomes more widely publicized, we may reasonably expect that many at risk - who in the past might have been temped to speed or take other risks while driving - will take extra care to drive just under the posted speed limit, signal all turns and lane changes, etc. to avoid this new and very real risk of being deported.

As CASA reported, "we hear daily from families who are terrified that a routine traffic stop could lead to deportation and family separation."

Indeed, immigrants who could even be worried that police might stop their vehicle based upon their appearance and not primarily because of what is often only a minor traffic violation - so-called pretextual traffic stops, which are generally lawful - should be especially concerned, and take extra care to avoid anything which might provide a pretext for a stop.

Risking a ticket for speeding, or even spending a night in jail for drunk driving, might not be a very effective deterrent for many drivers, but the risk that they may be uprooted from their homes and home country is many orders of magnitude more serious, says Banzhaf.

Thus, in addition to whatever benefits there may be from more rigorous enforcement of U.S. immigration law, including increased deportations, let's add safer driving by millions, with a resulting significant decline in fatal and other serious traffic accidents, predicts the law professor.

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